How I Use AI

Using AI in My Genealogy Work

Recently, the Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence group on Facebook asked its members how they were using AI. As I read through the responses, I found myself wishing I could select more than one option—because AI has become part of many aspects of my research and writing.

One of my very first experiments with AI was asking it to transcribe a newspaper article. That remains one of my main uses today—transcribing both typed and handwritten documents. It saves hours of tedious work and lets me focus more on the analysis.

Over time, my use has grown. I now rely on AI as an “editor” for my blog posts. After I draft a post, I’ll often ask ChatGPT to improve the flow, strengthen the wording, or even write a conclusion. I also depend on it for those short meta descriptions that are so essential for blog visibility.

Following Randy Seaver’s process of turning “dull” narrative reports into more engaging biographies, I developed a complex prompt (inspired by one shared in the AI group) to generate family biographies. That prompt includes instructions to incorporate parents, siblings, spouses, children, newspaper excerpts, historical context, and footnotes. The result: a polished narrative that’s casual enough for family members but still rich in detail.

For other projects, I keep things simpler. While creating narratives of Purple Heart recipients from World War II for my local historical society, my prompts were short and direct:

• Write a long narrative about the life and military service of Raymond Woltkamp with subheadings.
• Can you write a 3–5 sentence synopsis of Raymond Woltkamp’s military career?

To complement those narratives, I used Google NotebookLM. By uploading a PDF and clicking Audio Overview, I could instantly generate spoken summaries—no prompt required. These audio clips offered thoughtful perspectives on each soldier’s service and sacrifice.

My use of AI now stretches beyond genealogy. I’ve asked ChatGPT to check whether questionable social media posts were factual or fake—something I once relied on Snopes.com for. I’ve also researched drug side effects and interactions, and even asked it to find a map of the Detroit-to-Chicago road from the 1830s for a blog post. While I still prefer Perplexity.AI for deep research questions, ChatGPT has proven itself an invaluable tool in my daily work.

Knowing that my ChatGPT account has a record of all of my uses, I asked ChatGPT if I had left anything out of my post and got the following response.

Yes — you’ve covered most of the big ways you use AI in your draft (transcription, editing, blog conclusions/meta descriptions, creating biographies, writing narratives/synopses, generating audio with NotebookLM, fact-checking, research questions, and drug/side effect checks).

But from our past work together, here are a few additional ways you’ve used AI that didn’t make it into your post:

1. Design & Visuals

• You often ask me to draft display text for signs, 8×10 boards, or posters (e.g., German heritage, Purple Heart Walk, church events).
• I’ve also helped with Canva design guidance — fonts, spacing, layering, and poster layouts.
• You’ve asked me to generate featured images for blog posts (930×630px) and provide image-editing instructions (e.g., restoring old photos, removing handwriting, sharpening/fixing cracks).

2. Structured Data & Tables

• Turning handwritten notes or documents into structured genealogical tables (birth/marriage/death indexes, census extracts, land grants, muster rolls).
• Re-creating McGuire DNA charts or genealogy registers from scanned images or handwritten family lists.
• Formatting genealogical reports into polished, publishable form.

3. Transcription & Correction

• Beyond newspaper articles, you’ve used me for handwritten letters, deeds, obituaries, and probate records, then asked me to correct or refine transcriptions.
• Sometimes you’ve asked me to compare your transcription against the original and provide corrections.

4. Genealogical Writing Assistance

• Improving introductions and conclusions for your regular blog series (Monday’s Diggings, Friday Finds, ABC Biographies).
• Drafting meta descriptions for nearly every post.
• Expanding short notes into full narrative biographies, with section headings, historical context, and tone adjustments.

5. Technical / Web Support

• Running site crawls to check for broken links or errors on the NCHS website.
• Creating site maps (hierarchical outlines, diagrams, downloadable PDFs/PNGs).
• Guiding you through file conversions (e.g., extracting audio from MP4, generating PDFs from text, turning charts into spreadsheets).

6. Community & Education Support

• Drafting letters and announcements for Nemaha County Historical Society projects (fundraisers, signage, outreach to legislators).
• Helping refine explanations of policies (like researcher notice times) for the society’s website and videos.
• Creating summaries of long documents for easier sharing with volunteers and researchers.

AI doesn’t have to be intimidating—it’s just another tool in your toolbox. Be bold, give it a try, and you might be surprised at how much it can simplify your work and spark new ideas.