AI for Genealogy Research, Part 2
Tools Tuesday
Yesterday (Tuesday) was a packed day for me and as a result I’m posting my Tools post a day late. I was actually going to use collaboration as my tool for the day and just kind of coast on my last post… But then, I saw THIS!!!
In my first post about using AI, I talked about using artificial intelligence for research so that my stories would be more than just dates and places. If you like, please read that post first here. In this post, I will expand on another tool, the FamilySearch Labs Full Text Search.
So, what is this tool and why am I excited? FamilySearch is putting AI to the task of annotating handwritten records from its massive collection of images. As of this post, those records are mostly Land and Probate records in various countries. However, they are adding records all the time and I anticipate this will grow rapidly in the future.
The important part of this tool is understanding Keywords. Keywords are what you put into the search field. You can use regular names and phrases, and you can combine them so that you can find records that meet your criteria. You can also use certain characters to modify the search. This is covered well in the video (link under the photo above) and I highly recommend you view it.
Let’s walk through why this is so exciting by using the example of the Joseph Warner family in Otsego County, New York in the 1860s and 1870s. In the keywords search box (shown below) I put “joseph warner”. The search engine is not case specific, so you do not have to worry about capitalization.
That search brought up the results shown below. Fifteen thousand plus records needs to be pared down further to be useful. Notice in this screen that under my initial keywords there is another box to add another name as well as Search Tips that give examples of other delimiters to help your search.
Along with those options, there are filters above the records (on the left). It really cuts down on the number of records if you filter by Year and Place. To do that you click on the appropriate filter and narrow it down as far as you like. I used the filters to only select records from the 1800s and for Otsego County in New York and it narrowed down to just 22 entries. I didn’t want to filter on a specific decade because I wanted to search from the 1840s and further so I left it broad.
Searching through these 22 entries, many of them probably tied to my ancestor, I hit pay dirt; proof of my ancestors Joseph and Deborah Warner living in Otsego County, New York. As you can see there is an image of a record book, and in it are the terms I searched for highlighted yellow.
This image sums up what is so wonderful about this new tool. I really don’t want to try to read that handwritten document especially if it has no reference to my family. I guarantee I would never have stumbled over this record on FamilySearch because without knowing who is listed, I’m not going to read 19th century handwriting searching for a name.
Click on any resulting record and when you first open the item, there will be several options on the right. At the top (not shown above) are the options Index, Full Text, Group, and an icon to open the record window that normally comes up with a FS record. You are in the Full Text section. Group is the reference section and pertinent record information for sourcing. Index is also a typical FS record page.
Back in the Full Text section, just below those headings, it will indicate what set of records you are looking at. For example, mine says “Otsego, Deeds 1867-1868”. There are icons just below that that allow you to copy or download the full text transcript from the page excerpted by the AI. Under that is the option to turn the highlighting on or off.
Just below that there is an option (next to the star) to “Summarize the document”. This is the absolute MAGIC of AI. If you click on this option, the AI will summarize the document and instead of an error filled and sometimes garbage filled transcript, you will get the facts, dates and relationships indicated in the document. I have put the summary and parts of the transcript side by side below. Look at the difference!
In my example you can see that on Feb 20th, 1866, Joseph and his wife Deborah (the AI has incorrectly transcribed Warren instead of Warner) sold a piece of land to Jeremiah Bulty. This places them in Otsego and as man and wife.
If you copy or download it after asking the AI to summarize, you will get the legible summary as well as the transcript. For my records I save both the image and the transcript (after summary). I also recommend that you take the time to verify for yourself that what you find is truly what the AI thinks it is. In other words, read the actual document in the image and verify the facts. AI isn’t perfect. Finally, if you move away from the Full Text section (to Group or Index for example) you will lose the summary and have to generate it again. It does not write it to the record.
There is so much more to this tool. As I said in my first post, AI is an amazingly powerful ally in our research. In this particular example, it found something from a handwritten record book that is 641 pages long. I guarantee that I would never have found this record without the help of artificial intelligence.
Follow the links and tell me what you find. Has AI helped in your research? Do you have favorite sites or tools that utilize it? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks Saphyre really cool will check it out.
What a great use of AI and one I will definitely give a try. As I was reading, I was making a list haha. That said, I've had mixed results with AI transcriptions, so am glad you included the reminder to verify against the original text. Great info - thanks!