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Lorena Smalley

Genealogy Meeting Summary – Wednesday December 3. 2025

“Harnessing AI for More Effective Genealogical Research and Story Telling” 

by Jean-Yves Vanier-Verbeek.

 

Jean-Yves Vanier-Verbeek, a graduate in Chemical Engineering and Business Administration, left the corporate world to pursue his genealogy passion to become a full-time genealogist. In 2021 he started a small business offering genealogical research services with a specialization in French-Canadian, French-American, Acadian and Cajun ancestry. He has created family websites and developed genealogy methodology guides. Currently a contributing member of the AGS Edmonton branch, he is also President of the Societe Genealogique du Nord Ouest based in Edmonton.

 

Jean-Yves presentation included:

  1. What is AI? – a set of computing techniques enabling the analysis of data. Today it is found  in Voice Recognition, Customer Service, Retail and Commerce, Medical Diagnostics, Self-Driving vehicles and Agriculture (crop analysis).
  2. Why is it in Genealogy? – it is crucial to enable the management of data by simplifying Internet searches, accelerating construction and providing a far more rapid discovery of results. 
  3. History of AI in Genealogy: AI began in 2006 with Google Translate and has steadily progressed with Spelling/Grammar correction, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Analysis of DNA results, Transcription of Documents and the Arrival of AI tools (eg. ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) in November 2022. Advances and enhancements to these tools has continued at a rapid pace since.

Today there a number of areas in genealogical research that AI tools have enabled:

  1. Audio/Visual Document Transcription
  2. Instant Translation
  3. Extraction of Genealogical Information from Documents
  4. Book Indexing
  5. Photograph Enhancement and Repair
  6. Photograph Animation 
  7. Photograph Analysis
  8. Writing Articles and Stories
  9. Genealogical Timeline Creation
  10. Research Assistance
  11. Text Summaries
  12. Source Citations construction
  13. DNA Analysis and Results Organization
  14. Historical Context and Illustrations
  15. Planning and Organization of Genealogical Research

 

AI Research does bring certain Problems and Limitations: 

  1. Interpretation errors
  2. Editing difficulties

iii. Copyright issues

  1. Sources not Identified by LLMs (Large Language Models trained to analyze vast amounts of data)
  2. Limitations with the verification of names and dates. 
  3. False Information

vii. BIASED information 

viii. High Costs of use of AI tools and methodology 

 

Recommendations for the use of AI tools:

  • Always be vigilant in the interpretation of results. 
  • Provide high-resolution scans and clear, accurate data.
  • Be specific with prompts to get the most helpful information.
  • Verify everything – never assume AI generated results are correct. Always cross-check.
  • Use AI as an Assistant to assist your expertise, not replace it. 
  • Implement Ethical Practices – be mindful of privacy of sensitive information.
  • Document Your Process – record your methodology.

 

What Will the Future Bring in AI Research?

  • The continual introduction of new applications.
  • Increasing accuracy of results.
  • AI will be ubiquitous – it will continue to be a part of our future.
  • More and more information will become available.
  • An increasing number of AI tools will be available.
  • Increasing and improved handwriting conversion and interpretation.
  • More problem-solving capabilities.

 

Cautions for the Use of AI Research:

Not unlike any other computer systems, AI output is subject to external attack by unscrupulous users. Beware of the inaccurate or harmful output of AI information through the manipulation of data, the alternation of AI models, data leakage, privacy violations, etc. Check, check, check and verify your information. 

 

Attachment:

‘Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for More Effective Genealogical Research and Story Telling’ Handout by Jean-Yves Vanier-Verbeek

 

AI Tool Demonstration by Don Bowling: 

Don provided a demonstration of some of the key AI Research Tools available, most at ‘no-cost’ or a low reasonable cost for more advanced versions. He was able to demonstrate what various AI tools could do with member submissions of family photos (restoration, interpretation, etc.), documents (Wills, letters, postcards, etc.), and foreign language translation.

The five key AI Research Tools introduced were: 

  1. ChatGPT: Developed by OpenAI   https://www.chatgpt.com

Can transcribe documents, provide historical context, research surname origins, and help draft family narratives.

  1. Gemini:   Developed by Google:   https://gemini.google.com

A conversational chatbot that can answer questions, translate languages, and generate text.

  1. Perplexity: Developed by 4 Technology Professionals   https://perplexity.ai

A search engine that provides direct answers to questions with sources, acting as a research assistant by summarizing information from multiple websites

  1. Co-Pilot:   (Free or Paid Subscription) Developed by Microsoft    https://copilot.microsoft.com

Offers a wide range of tasks, from generating content and summarizing text to writing code and creating presentations.

  1. Claude: Developed by Anthropic    https://claude.ai

Known for its conversational and reasoning abilities in tasks like writing, analysis, and coding.

 

Next Meeting: 

Wednesday January 14. 2026:

Topic: Dual Presentations: 

  1. ‘Canadian Naturalization Records’ by Thea Hawryluk

A valuable resource in genealogical research. 

  1. ‘Googling for Grandma’ by Ashley Rother

Learn about Google’s advance search options in genealogical research. 

 

** Please not the change in date to the second Wednesday in January due to maintenance work at the Westend Seniors Center in early January.