For me, 2025 was a year of learning how to work alongside Artificial Intelligence. While I haven’t explored AI as deeply as some of the leaders in the Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence community, I’ve benefited greatly from watching others—especially Randy Seaver—experiment, test boundaries, and share their results. What began as occasional use for tasks like transcribing newspaper articles gradually evolved into something much more integrated in my research and storytelling.
Over the past year, I’ve experimented with several tools, including Google’s Notebook LM, Perplexity, and Suno, each offering unique ways to analyze, interpret, or present information. Still, my everyday companion has been ChatGPT, which has become part research assistant, part writing partner, and part creative collaborator.
Below are screenshots from my ChatGPT “Year in Review,” a snapshot of how this tool has fit into my daily genealogy work—helping me explore records, shape narratives, and find new ways to share family history.
Looking back, what stands out most about 2025 isn’t any single tool, but how thoughtfully these technologies have fit into my existing research habits. Artificial Intelligence didn’t replace the careful work of evaluating sources, citing records, or asking good genealogical questions—it simply offered new ways to move those tasks forward. As I head into another year of research, writing, and discovery, I’m excited to continue experimenting, learning, and sharing what works (and what doesn’t), all while keeping the focus where it belongs: preserving and telling our families’ stories.