with AI Video

One of the things I enjoy most about using AI in genealogy is experimenting with new ways to tell family stories. A traditional narrative biography is valuable, but sometimes a different format helps bring an ancestor’s life to life in a new and engaging way.

After creating an ABC Biography for my 3rd great-grandfather, Hiram M. Currey (1835–1901), I decided to see what AI could do with his story in video form.

Using the narrative report and research I had assembled, I turned to Google Notebook LM to create an infographic, an audio overview, and a cinematic video interpretation of Hiram’s life.

For the first video, I took the infographic and audio overview created by Notebook LM and combined them in Canva to produce a narrated video presentation. This version is probably the most grounded in the documented facts, since it relies directly on the information I provided.

The second video is Notebook LM’s cinematic interpretation of Hiram’s story. While visually engaging, cinematic AI video comes with an important caution: the imagery represents an artistic interpretation, not documented photographs or precise historical reconstructions. Since I have no known photographs of Hiram or his immediate family, the visuals should be viewed as atmosphere rather than evidence.

Still, I find these experiments fascinating. They offer a new way to engage with family history and perhaps help others connect emotionally with ancestors who otherwise might remain simply names and dates in a database.

Below are the two videos.

Video 1: Infographic + Audio Overview Video

Video 2: Cinematic Interpretation

I’d be curious to know what you think.

Do you prefer the more factual infographic-based presentation, or the cinematic storytelling version?

And more broadly—do these types of AI-generated media help make family history more accessible and engaging, or do you prefer sticking with traditional written narratives and photographs?