Family history websites are handing users new AI tools, with a caution attached

FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Ancestry have all rolled out artificial intelligence features over the past several months aimed at making family history research faster, from reading old handwriting to writing an ancestor's biography. The tools were showcased at RootsTech 2026 in Salt Lake City, where genealogy companies presented what amounts to the biggest technology push the hobby has seen. At the same conference, a panel of researchers offered a blunter message: the tools are powerful, but they can also be wrong, and the person doing the research is still responsible for checking the result.

The scale of what these companies are now processing is large. FamilySearch's Full-Text Search, which uses AI and handwriting recognition to turn scanned historical documents into searchable text, had analyzed 2.3 billion record images as of March 2026. Those come out of a preserved microfilm archive of about 5.3 billion images, leaving roughly 3 billion still to process, and developers say they are prioritizing collections from places that have been poorly represented, including an early addition of plantation records from the American South. MyHeritage, for its part, has folded a new tool called Scribe AI into a database of nearly 40 billion historical records. Ancestry says more than 940 million records are now available for its AI-narrated audio story feature.

FamilySearch moves from indexing to conversation

FamilySearch has used AI for several years now for indexed records, full-text search, a help chatbot and a research assistant built into its website. AI-indexed records used to be completed entirely by volunteers; now AI performs an initial read-through of a historical record to identify names, dates and other genealogically useful details, with volunteers checking the work afterward through the site's Get Involved program.

Full-Text Search lets a user find a name or word inside a document that has not been formally indexed, cutting what used to be hours of scrolling through images down to a keyword search that takes seconds. It is not yet available for every collection, though FamilySearch adds more regularly, and the search now covers records from nearly 30 countries. At RootsTech 2026 the organization also announced a beta feature called Simple Search, which allows a person to search using ordinary conversational language rather than exact keywords. Family Tree Magazine's reviewers found the transcription highly accurate but imperfect, particularly with records in unusual formats.

The site's AI Research Assistant works differently. It appears as tree-extending hints on a user's home page, flagging opportunities to review or add ancestors, and it also functions as a chatbot on an individual profile page, answering questions such as who a person married or who their parents were. It responds only about the specific person being viewed, and users can type their own questions rather than relying only on the suggested ones.

MyHeritage's Scribe AI reads letters, photographs and gravestones

MyHeritage introduced Scribe AI in March 2026, describing it as a kind of personal AI historian. A user uploads an image, whether a scanned handwritten letter, an old photograph, a gravestone or a coat of arms, and the tool produces a transcription, a translation if needed, an explanation of symbols or context, and suggested next research steps. The tool first classifies what kind of image it is looking at, then applies a different form of analysis depending on the answer. Documents are transcribed and, where necessary, translated. Photographs are examined for clothing, hairstyles, objects, architecture and photographic technique to estimate a date and location. Gravestones get their inscriptions transcribed and their symbols interpreted. Coats of arms receive a formal heraldic description.

MyHeritage has published examples of what the tool can extract. On a 1913 U.S. naturalization certificate belonging to a man named Sam Pass, Scribe AI pulled his age, birthplace, residence, physical description and the names, ages and residences of his wife and children, along with historical context noting that it was common at the time for a husband to immigrate first while his family remained behind. On a French death record for the writer Marcel Proust, the tool added his date of birth, his status as a Knight of the Legion of Honor, his marital status, and the names of his parents, Adrien Proust and Jeanne Clemence Weil, along with the registration date of November 20, 1922, two days after his death.

MyHeritage has layered other AI tools on top of this. An AI Biographer, introduced at the end of 2023, generates a written article about an ancestor, drawing either only from a person's tree profile or, in an enhanced version, from records and web information as well. A Tribute Reel tool turns uploaded photographs into a memorial video with animated images set to music, and a Family Infographics tool produces illustrated summaries of a person's life in a chosen artistic style. Several of these features carry limited free uses before requiring a paid subscription.

Ancestry adds narrated stories and a searchable Revolutionary War archive

Ancestry launched AI Stories in December 2025, still in beta, which turns a historical record into a narrated audio story that weaves in details such as employment history, physical attributes or next of kin, paired with broader historical context. The feature is available in English, Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, which Ancestry's announcement describes as six languages, and users can listen, read the text, or download it to share.

At RootsTech 2026 Ancestry added several more tools. A new Transcribe button lets AncestryAI instantly read handwritten or typed records such as military discharge papers. A Photo Insights feature scans clues such as clothing styles, cars or military insignias to suggest a rough date, location and summary for old photographs. A sparkles icon labeled Get Ideas acts as a research assistant, reviewing what is already known about a person and suggesting specific next steps. Using advanced handwriting recognition, Ancestry has also made 2.4 million pages of U.S. Revolutionary War pension files on Fold3 fully text-searchable, where previously they were indexed only by the pensioner's name, meaning a researcher can now search for a witness, a secondary family member or a specific town mentioned deep inside a handwritten file. Crista Cowan, Ancestry's Director of Corporate Genealogy, said every update to the platform is built around one goal: helping users tell their family's stories better.

Researchers set out five ground rules

At a RootsTech 2026 session on March 5 titled Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy in 2026, a panel from the Coalition for Responsible AI in Genealogy, led by Lynn Broderick, laid out five principles: accuracy, disclosure, privacy, education and compliance. Broderick, a writer and researcher who focuses on family, community and social history, described the current landscape bluntly. AI is truly a wilderness, not the Wild West, Broderick said.

The panel warned that AI systems can generate false, biased or fabricated information. James Tanner, chairman of the board of directors of the Family History Guide Association, said that once a system runs out of verifiable material it simply starts trying to please people by telling them what it thinks they want to know. In all cases we do not give up our agency in the way that we are dealing with AI. ... We want AI to be the servant and we want to be the principal, Tanner said. The panel offered two fixes: Ouimette urged users to learn how to write prompts and ask questions, while Tanner pressed for human judgment over whatever the machine supplies.

David Ouimette, FamilySearch's content strategy lead for Asia-Pacific, focused on transparency. Disclosure is all about trust, Ouimette said, arguing that acknowledging AI use in one's research helps others evaluate it and preserves credibility. Katherine Borges, co-founder and director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, raised a sharper warning about privacy, particularly around DNA data. AI is the new shiny toy, and we don't want to upload match lists and the data of living people because once you do that, there's no way to call it back, Borges said.

FamilySearch's own guidance echoes those concerns, urging users to always check original images, review AI-generated matches, compare repaired photographs against the originals, and verify generated facts against reputable sources. The organization also flags copyright limits on how AI-processed content can be used, privacy settings that govern how personal information is shared, a general lack of transparency in how some AI tools reach their conclusions, and the possibility that results reflect bias baked into the data the AI was trained on. None of that guidance argues against using the tools. It argues for treating every AI-generated transcription, story or photo restoration as a first draft that still needs a second look before it goes into the family record.

Quotes and Sources

James Tanner: In all cases we do not give up our agency in the way that we are dealing with AI. ... We want AI to be the servant and we want to be the principal.

Lynn Broderick: AI is truly a wilderness, not the Wild West,

David Ouimette: Disclosure is all about trust,

Katherine Borges: AI is the new shiny toy, and we don’t want to upload match lists and the data of living people because once you do that, there’s no way to call it back,

Sources

Join the American Association of Retired Republicans today!

Dues are $12 per year. Member benefits:

✅ Ad-Free Website Viewing
✅ Advocacy for Republican Seniors
✅ Member Only Newsletters

Share this article
The link has been copied!