Episodes

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore the AI developments that had the biggest impact on genealogy in 2024. This week’s episode spotlights MyHeritage's newest viral tool, LiveMemory, which brings old photos to life through animation. Next, Mark and Steve count down the year's top AI breakthroughs for genealogists. The groundbreaking FamilySearch full-text search takes the top spot by providing unprecedented access to huge collections of handwritten records. Mark and Steve also discuss...

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss how Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet upgrade has made Claude an even better AI writer. This make's it even easier to write a great research report. They move on to explore OpenAI's new desktop apps and Advanced Voice Mode, discussing how voice interaction could transform genealogical research, particularly for those who prefer speaking to typing. Combining search and AI in the same tool will be a huge timesaver for genealogy research. This week's Ti...

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little examine OpenAI's new Canvas feature, demonstrating how this split-screen interface revolutionizes document creation and editing for genealogists. Locality guides and research reports are used as practical examples. They explore how AI platforms like Canvas and Perplexity Spaces are challenging traditional software, suggesting a future where content creation happens primarily within AI environments rather than conventional office applications. This week's...

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little recap their experiences at the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference last week, highlighting Dana Leeds' innovative use of AI for efficiently created charts using the Leeds Method. They then explore OpenAI's new Canvas feature, comparing it to Claude's Artifacts, and discuss its potential for genealogical research. Next, Mark and Steve review Google's Notebook LM, examining its ability to turn documents into engaging podcasts and its usefulness for gen...

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little are excited to share OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode, which enables natural conversations with AI, and how FamilySearch's expanded full-text Search is revolutionizing records accessibility. They stress responsible AI use throughout this week's episode, introducing a new series on verifying the accuracy of AI-generated information. Send your stories of AI accuracy (or accuracy failures) to ResponsibleAI@MakingFamilyHistory.com New tools like Google's Noteboo...

In this special edition of the Family History AI Show, co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little do a deep dive into OpenAI's latest release, code-named "Project Strawberry." They explain the new ChatGPT-o1 models, discuss their reasoning capabilities and most importantly, their potential impacts on genealogical research. They also offer practical advice on when and how to use these new tools effectively. Don't miss this week's Tip of the Week: How to create the new o1 models' reasoning capabili...

In this episode of the Family History AI Show, Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore the latest AI news, views and reviews for family historians. They start with Google Gemini's new file upload capabilities and examine AI's impact on genealogy education, offering practical advice for researchers. Then, they discuss the increasing availability of saved prompts across AI platforms. Don’t miss this week’s Tip of The Week: Using examples to improve the reliability of the responses that you get fr...

Hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little expertly navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape, offering practical insights on leveraging AI for your family history research. Mark and Steve open this episode by discussing lessons that genealogists can learn from Hollywood on the importance of fact-checking. Next, they provide a comprehensive roundup of the top AI image-generation tools. Then, how Google Lens’ big upgrade can greatly simplify your research. In this week’s Tip of the Week, learn how A...

In this episode, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss Microsoft's new AI-enhanced search tool, Deep Search. Then, they review Google's major list of AI announcements. In the last big story this week, Mark and Steve talk about how photography has changed in the digital age. Don’t miss this week’s Tip of the Week, where Mark and Steve provide valuable insights into Building Better Prompts using the role-goal-task-format prompting style. The rapid-fire segment covers recent developments i...

Join co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little to explore the latest developments in AI and Family History. This week, they discuss Ancestry's innovative new tool for summarizing key US records. They also review Ancestry’s new AI chatbot that greatly simplifies finding the best support documents. Next, they gawk at Google's impressive Gemini 1.5 Pro update. Then, they wrap up the week’s top news stories by reviewing the growing importance of small language models and how they promise faster and m...

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore the potential benefits of Meta's open-source approach to AI. Next, they discuss MyHeritage's plans to retire an AI feature. Then, they review the AI image generation features recently added to Adobe Illustrator. In this week’s Tip of the Week, they share valuable insights on crafting effective, hallucination-resistant, AI prompts using the “role, task, and format” prompting method. The RapidFire segment covers Apple's AI delays, Google's impressi...

In this week’s episode, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore Meta AI 3.1's huge large language model upgrade, as well as FamilySearch's innovative, AI-based summarization feature. They then address growing concerns about AI hype. In this week’s Tip of the Week, they share their approach for mastering the fine art of summarization, a crucial AI skill for genealogical research. The show rounds off with rapid-fire discussions of Google's privacy policy update, Apple's response to accusation...

In this episode, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little dive into Perplexity's big upgrade, enhancing research capabilities for family historians. They tackle pressing ethical concerns in AI, exploring copyright issues and training data controversies that impact genealogists. The show introduces a new series on building better prompts, offering practical tips to maximize AI tools. In the rapid-fire segment, they cover open-source developments, geopolitical influences on AI, and exciting updates fr...

In this episode of The Family History AI Show, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss the latest advancements in AI tools for genealogists. Discover how Anthropic’s new Claude Projects feature stacks up against OpenAI’s custom GPTs, and learn about essential reusable prompts for genealogical research. We also highlight key insights from the GRIP Annual Institute’s AI panel, addressing top questions from genealogy students. Don’t miss our AI Tip of the Week, where we reveal strategies fo...

Hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss Steve's recent AI course for genealogists at GRIP and the rapid pace of learning and practical applications for genealogy. They examine the industry-wide effects of Apple's focus on AI privacy and security, including at OpenAI. The launch of Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet is a major advancement, offering huge improvements for genealogical research. This week’s Tip of The Week emphasizes the value of using AI for small, repetitive tasks. They also co...

Show Description: In this episode of the Family History AI Show, hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss recent developments in AI for genealogy. They recap the groundbreaking AI Day at the Ontario Genealogical Society conference, highlighting the engaging presentations made throughout the conference. An exclusive interview with Daniel Horowitz reveals MyHeritage's user-friendly approach to AI. The hosts discuss tech giants' recent challenges and contrast them with Apple's strategic AI im...

In this episode of the Family History AI Show, co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss the exciting developments in AI announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) last week. In particular, Apple's promise of a more secure, private approach to AI. Apple's approach to AI is compared with Microsoft's Recall feature and Google's Memory, highlighting the importance of security and privacy to genealogists. Mark and Steve also discuss recent updates to ChatGPT's Data Analyst, sh...

“These tools are so useful […] that even if there are prohibitions against their use, […] there's an incredible temptation to use them surreptitiously.” - Steve Little Join Mark Thompson and Steve Little as they discuss the AI stories affecting the family history community. AI outages, ethical debates, and cutting-edge tools were all big news this week. Also, listen to how OpenAI's new content deals, Google's very bad awful week, and Perplexity's innovative Pages tool, could impact your geneal...

Welcome to the first episode of The Family History AI Show! This week, Mark and Steve dive into the latest developments in AI and how they are transforming the world of genealogy. From the new tools announced recently by OpenAI and Google to big stories from the National Genealogical Society conference, this episode is packed with insights and tips for leveraging AI in your family history research. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 2:00 – AI In the News 2:20 – OpenAI announces ChatGPT 4o 9:05 – Goo...