Do you follow The Family History AI Show by Steve Little and Mark Thompson or Steve Little’s blog, AI Genealogy Insights? If so, you may have heard about using AI prompts to create a locality guide for genealogy research. I recently tried this prompt for Ontario County, New York, and decided to compare the AI-generated locality guide to the FamilySearch Wiki for Ontario County.
Although I haven’t done a point-by-point comparison, my general conclusion is that the Wiki essentially provides the answers to the research tasks outlined in the AI-generated locality guide.
For example, the AI-generated locality guide suggested the following tasks under Census and Population Records:
- Summarize the availability of federal, state, and local censuses.
- Identify substitutes for missing census data (tax lists, voter rolls, city directories).
When checking the census section of the FamilySearch Wiki, I found comprehensive information, including a chart detailing census availability across various sources.
Regarding census substitutes, the Wiki does provide information about tax records for Ontario County. However, it does not specifically list voter rolls or city directories. A quick search for voter on the FamilySearch Wiki led me to a broader collection of voter record wikis, including a link to New York Voter Records. Similarly, a search for Geneva, New York brought up a dedicated wiki for the town, listing available records at a more localized level.
While using AI to create the locality guide helped me better understand how AI can assist genealogy research, I found that the FamilySearch Wiki already serves as a strong starting point. Given its depth and accessibility, I’ll likely skip the AI-generated guide in the future and go straight to the Wiki when researching a new location.
Conclusion
While AI can be a helpful tool for genealogy research, my experience with the AI-generated locality guide showed that the FamilySearch Wiki already provides a well-organized and detailed starting point. Instead of using AI prompts to create a guide from scratch, I’ll rely on the Wiki to streamline my research. That said, experimenting with AI in genealogy has been an insightful process, and it’s exciting to see how technology continues to evolve in this field.
Hi Marcia, can you tell me how you are getting your AI images looking so good? Which AI tool are you using? How do you get it to spell things correctly? I love them! Email me at randy.seaver@gmail.com if you prefer!
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I always start with the FS Wiki and GENUKI when researching a new location – I don’t need AI to tell me that.
Why not start with the FamilySearch Wiki (I always do) and ask the various AIs (especially the new “Deep Research” models) to suggest strategies and resources that the Wiki is missing? If you find any of the additions useful, add them to the Wiki! That’s why it’s a Wiki, so we can all contribute.
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