AI for Genealogy: When AI Gets Your Family History Wrong

Recovery, Verification, and Turning Disasters into Breakthroughs

🚨 THE EPISODE EVERY GENEALOGIST NEEDS TO HEAR

What happens when AI confidently tells you your great-grandmother was a famous opera singer, your mysterious uncle was a Civil War spy, and your family has royal connections... and none of it is true?

In this extended 35-minute episode, we dive deep into the uncomfortable reality of AI hallucinations in genealogy research. With current AI error rates reaching 27-79% in certain scenarios, every family historian needs to know how to spot, stop, and recover from AI mistakes before they spread through your family tree like digital wildfire.

What You'll Learn: ✅ Why genealogists are particularly vulnerable to AI hallucinations (3 specific reasons)
✅ The 6-stage anatomy of an AI genealogy disaster and how to stop it
✅ The "verification sandwich" technique that keeps AI in its proper role
✅ Recovery prompts that turn AI mistakes into research breakthroughs
✅ A 5-minute fact-check process you can use immediately
✅ How to build verification habits that make you a better genealogist overall

🎯 Perfect For:

• Genealogists worried about AI reliability
• Researchers who've used AI and want to verify their findings
• Anyone wanting to use AI safely for family history
• Family historians seeking to future-proof their research skills

💡 Key Takeaway: AI errors aren't research failures—they're opportunities to develop the critical thinking skills that separate real genealogists from story collectors.

Copy-Ready Resources Included:

• Emergency recovery prompts for when AI goes wrong
• 5-minute verification checklist
• Error analysis framework
• Research methodology prompts

This Week's Homework: Find an AI mistake in your research, document it, and turn it into a breakthrough using our recovery protocol. Share your experience at ancestorsandai@gmail.com

Connect with Ancestors and Algorithms:

📧 Email: ancestorsandai@gmail.com
🌐 Website: https://ancestorsandai.com/
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Golden Rule Reminder: AI is your research assistant, not your researcher.

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Transcript

Picture this. You're sitting at your computer, feeling incredibly proud. You just spent three hours with ChatGPT, and together you've discovered that your great-great-grandmother was actually a famous opera singer in Vienna, your mysterious great-uncle was a Civil War spy, and your family name has royal connections dating back to medieval Scotland. You've got beautiful, detailed stories. You've got historical context. You've even got what looks like a family coat of arms. You're ready to update your family tree, write the family newsletter, maybe even submit this incredible research to your genealogy society. There's just one tiny problem. None of it is true. Not one single word. Today, we're diving deep into what happens when AI gets your family history completely wrong, why these failures might actually be your biggest research breakthroughs in disguise, and, most importantly, how to spot these mistakes before they spread through your family like digital wildfire. I'm your host, Brian, and this is Ancestors and Algorithms, where family history meets artificial intelligence. If you've been following this podcast from the beginning, you know that I'm not here to bash AI or scare you away from using these incredible tools. today's episode might be the most important one we've done together. Because understanding when and why AI fails in genealogy research isn't just about avoiding embarrassment. It's about building the kind of research skills that will make you a better genealogist, whether you're using AI or not. It's about developing that skeptical, verification-first mindset that separates real family historians from people who just collect stories. And here's what might surprise you. By the end of today's episode, you're going to understand why an AI mistake might be the best thing that ever happened to your research. Let me start by sharing some numbers that might make you uncomfortable. Research from 2025 shows that current AI systems, even the most advanced ones, are making mistakes at rates that should concern every genealogist. We're talking about error rates ranging from 27% for general factual information up to 79% for certain types of questions. That means in some tests, AI tools were wrong nearly four times out of five. Now, before you panic and delete ChatGPT from your bookmarks, let me put this in perspective. These aren't the error rates you'll see when you use AI properly for genealogy. But they are the error rates you'll see when you use AI the way most people do when they first discover it. And genealogists, we're particularly vulnerable to AI mistakes for three specific reasons. First, we're desperate for answers. When you've been staring at a brick wall for months or years, when that one missing ancestor is keeping you from moving forward, AI feels like magic. It gives you detailed, confident-sounding answers about people and places you can't find anywhere else. Of course, there's a reason you can't find information anywhere else. Often, because it doesn't exist. Second, we work with partial information. Genealogy is the art of piecing together incomplete puzzles. We're used to working with fragments, making educated guesses, connecting the dots that aren't always clearly connected. AI is brilliant at taking those fragments and weaving them into compelling narratives. The problem is, AI doesn't distinguish between reasonable historical inference and complete fabrication. Third, we want our ancestors to be interesting. Let's be honest, most of our ancestors were farmers. They lived quiet lives, had normal jobs, and faced ordinary challenges. But AI knows we want drama, adventure, significance. So when we ask about great-uncle Henry, AI might decide he wasn't just a blacksmith in Ohio. Maybe he was a blacksmith who secretly helped runaway slaves. Maybe he had connections to famous historical figures. Maybe he invented something important. These enhanced stories feel more satisfying than the truth. And that's exactly why they're dangerous. Now here's the part that's going to sound controversial. But I need you to hear it. AI hallucinations and genealogy aren't just random errors. They're often exactly what we want to hear. AI has been trained on thousands of family histories, genealogy websites, and historical narratives. It knows what makes a good family story. It knows what details make ancestors feel real and important. So, when AI hallucinates about your family, it's not just making up random facts. It's creating plausible, appealing fiction that fits perfectly into the gaps in your knowledge. Remember our golden rule that we talk about in every episode? AI is your research assistant, not your researcher. But here's what happens when AI becomes your researcher instead of your assistant. It starts filling in those gaps with imagination instead of evidence. Let me give you a hypothetical example that combines real patterns I've seen in genealogy AI discussions. Let's say you tell Chachibiti, quote, My ancestor John Smith lived in Pennsylvania in the 1850s. I can't find much information about him. Can you help me understand his life? End quote. A properly prompted AI response would say something like, Quote, Based on historical context, a John Smith in 1850s Pennsylvania would likely have experienced general historical events. To find specific information about your John Smith, you might search specific record types or look into particular repositories. End quote. But an improperly prompted AI might say, quote, John Smith was likely involved in Underground Railroad activities that were common in Pennsylvania during this period. He probably worked as a blacksmith as this was a crucial trade for supporting escaped slaves. Records of his activities might be found in Quaker meeting house archives, as many blacksmiths in Pennsylvania were Quakers who opposed slavery. End quote. Do you see the difference? The second response sounds incredibly helpful and specific. It gives you concrete research directions. It makes John Smith feel like a real person with an important story. And none of it is based on evidence about your John Smith. This is how AI hallucinates in genealogy work. They're not obviously wrong. They're believably, compellingly, dangerously wrong. Let me walk you through how an AI genealogy disaster typically unfolds. Because understanding the pattern will help you recognize and prevent these situations in your own research. Stage 1 is the innocent beginning. It usually starts with a simple, reasonable question. Something like, can you help me find information about Mary O'Brien who immigrated from Ireland to Boston around 1847? This seems harmless, right? You're just asking for help with research direction. But here's the problem. You're asking AI to go beyond what it can actually do reliably. You're asking it to research, not to assist with your research. Stage 2, the compelling response. AI responds with something that sounds incredibly helpful. Mary O'Brien was likely fleeing the Irish Potato Famine when she arrived in Boston in 1847. She probably traveled on one of the coffin ships and may have settled in the Irish neighborhoods around Fort Hill. Given the timing, she might have worked as a domestic servant for wealthy Boston families. And you could find records of her employment and household account books from Beacon Hill families. This response feels amazing. It's historically accurate about the Irish potato famine. It demonstrates knowledge of Boston's Irish immigration patterns. It gives you specific research directions. The problem is, it's talking about Irish immigrants in general. Not your Mary O'Brien's specifically. Stage 3, the elaboration trap. But you're excited now, so you follow up. That's fascinating. What can you tell me about the specific ship she might have taken? And AI, being designed to be helpful, starts elaborating. Based on the timing and Boston as the destination, Mary likely sailed on the Jamestown or the Massachusetts. Two ships that regularly transported Irish refugees during 1847. The Jamestown was particularly significant as it was the first ship to carry release supplies back to Ireland that same year. Now we're getting specific ship names. We're getting what feels like concrete research leads. And we're moving further and further away from anything that can be verified about your Mary O'Brien. Stage 4, the research rabbit hole. At this point, you might spend hours researching the Jamestown and the Massachusetts. You might find passenger lists, historical accounts, detailed information about these ships. You might even find other Mary O'Briens on these ships. But here's the crucial question. Was your Mary O'Brien on either of these ships? AI doesn't know. AI can't know. AI never had access to specific information about your ancestors. It was making educated guesses based on historical patterns and then elaborating on those guesses as if they were facts. Stage five, the cascade effect. The really dangerous part comes next. You've spent hours researching based on AI suggestions. You've found some connections that seem to fit. Maybe you've found a Mary O'Brien on the Jamestown passenger list and the age is close enough to seem right. So, you update your family tree. You write a family newsletter describing Mary's harrowing journey on the Jamestown. You share this information with other family researchers. You might even submit it to genealogy databases or family history societies. And now, AI's hallucination has become family history that other people will find and potentially build upon. Stage six, the discovery. Months or years later, you find actual evidence about Mary O'Brien. Maybe you find her death certificate that lists different parents than ones you've been researching. Maybe you find a ship manifest that shows she actually arrived in 1849, not 1847. Maybe you discover she came through New York, not Boston. Suddenly, all that research on the Jamestown becomes irrelevant. Worse, you now have to go back and correct all the places where you shared or published incorrect information. You have to contact family members, genealogy societies, database administrators. You have to essentially unweave AI's fiction from your family's real history. This is what I call an AI genealogy disaster. And the painful truth is, it's entirely preventable. Let me tell you about the verification techniques that can stop this cascade before it starts. The first technique is what researchers call the verification sandwich. Instead of asking AI to research for you, you bring your research to AI and ask it to help you analyze what you've already found. For example, instead of asking, can you tell me about Mary O'Brien who immigrated from Ireland? You would say, I have a ship manifest showing Mary O'Brien arriving in Boston on March 15, 1847 on the ship Constellation. I also have a Boston City Directory listing showing her as a domestic servant in 1850. Can you help me understand what resources might help me trace her life between these two documented points? Do you see the difference? In the first version, you're asking AI to generate information. In the second version, you're asking AI to help you analyze information you've already verified. The second technique is called confidence calibration. Every time AI gives you specific information, you ask, How confident are you in this information and what sources would I need to verify it? A properly prompted AI will respond honestly. I cannot be confident about specific details about your Mary O'Brien without seeing primary source documents. To verify her immigration story, you would need to check ship passenger list, immigration records at the National Archives and Boston City records from the late 1840s. The third technique is hallucination testing. When AI gives you specific information, you deliberately ask it for details it shouldn't know. If AI tells you Mary O'Brien worked as a domestic servant, you might ask, What was the name of the family she worked for? If AI provides a specific family name, that's a red flag. How could it possibly know which specific family hired your ancestor, unless it had access to employment records that you haven't seen? These techniques work because they force AI to operate within its actual capabilities, instead of pretending to have access to information it doesn't possess. But here's what I've learned in my six months of daily genealogy work with AI. The best protection against AI hallucinations isn't just knowing how to prompt properly. It's developing what I call genealogical skepticism. The habit of questioning everything until you can verify it with a primary source. And that brings us to the really exciting part of today's episode. Because when AI gets your family history wrong, and you catch the error, something magical happens. You don't just avoid a research disaster. You often stumble onto research breakthroughs that you never would have found otherwise. Here's the counter-tuitive truth about AI failures in genealogy. They often point you toward the exact research you need to do, but we're avoiding because it seemed too difficult or time-consuming. Let me explain what I mean with a real-world example pattern that I've seen repeated in genealogy AI discussions. A researcher asked AI about their ancestor, Thomas Wilson, who lived in Virginia in the 1830s. AI responds with a detailed story about Thomas being involved in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to the north. Thank you. The researcher gets excited and starts researching underground railroad activities in Virginia, but as they dig deeper, they realize something. There's no evidence connecting their Thomas Wilson to these activities. AI was hallucinating. But here's the breakthrough. In the process of trying to verify AI's claims, the researcher discovers something they had never considered before. The reason they couldn't find much information about Thomas Wilson in the 1830s wasn't because he was involved in secretive underground railroad activities. It was because he had moved from Virginia to Ohio during this period, following economic opportunities in the growing canal system. By trying to debunk AI's fictional story, the researcher uncovered the real story and solved a research problem they'd been stuck on for years. This is what I call the AI misdirection breakthrough. AI points you in the wrong direction, but the process of proving it wrong leads you to the right direction. AI failures in genealogy often reveal the assumptions and blind spots in our research. When AI tells us our ancestor was involved in dramatic historical events, it's usually because we've been looking for drama instead of digging into the mundane records that actually contain our family's history. When AI claims our ancestors lived in one place, when evidence suggests another, it forces us to examine our assumptions about family migration patterns. When AI invents occupations or relationships, it pushes us to look more carefully at the employment records and family structures we might have overlooked. When you discover that AI has led you astray, don't just abandon the research and start over. Use the systematic recovery protocol to turn the disaster into a breakthrough. Step 1. Document the error Write down exactly what AI told you and what evidence proved it wrong. This isn't just for your records, it's the beginning of a research hypothesis. AI's mistakes often reveal patterns about what information is missing from your research. Step 2. Analyze the gap Ask yourself, why did AI fill this particular gap with fiction? If AI invented an occupation for your ancestor, what legitimate records might actually contain occupation information? If AI created a fictional migration story, what real migration patterns make sense for your time period and location? Step 3. Research the real story Use AI's fictional narrative as a research roadmap, but in reverse. If AI claimed your ancestor was a teacher, research what records would exist for actual teachers in that time and place. If AI invented a military service story, research what military records exist for your ancestor's age group and location. And finally, step 4. Verify everything. Apply what researchers call genealogical proof standards to everything you find. Every fact needs a source. Every source needs evaluation. Every conclusion needs to be based on multiple pieces of evidence. But here's the crucial Use AI to help you with this verification process. Just use it correctly. Let me give you specific prompts you can use to turn AI failures into research successes. The error analysis prompt. I previously asked you about ancestor name, and you provided information that I've now determined was incorrect. You said, specific AI claim, but evidence shows, actual facts, based on this discrepancy, what types of records or research approaches might help me find accurate information about this person. The source strategy prompt. I'm researching, ancestor name, who lived in, location, during, time period. I need to verify basic facts like, specific information, what are the most reliable primary source collections for this geographic area and time period, and how can I access them, end quote. The context research prompt. My ancestor, name, lived in, specific location, during, specific years. Rather than telling me about this specific person, can you help me understand what life was like for people in general in this time and place? What major events, economic conditions, or social changes might have affected families like mine, end quote. The record detective prompt, quote, I found specific record or document, mentioning my ancestor. Can you help me understand what other types of records might have been created at the same time or in the same context? What related document should I be looking for, end quote. Notice something about these prompts? They don't ask AI to research your ancestor. They ask AI to help you research your true. They leverage A. I.'s knowledge of historical context, record types, and research methodologies while keeping you in control of the actual fact-finding process. I've seen researchers use this recovery protocol to solve decades-old research problems. One researcher discovered that A. I.'s fictional story about their ancestor being a Civil War soldier pointed them toward pension records they had never considered, and those pensions records led to a different ancestor who actually did serve. Another researcher found that A. I.'s invented migration story prompted them to research land records in a completely different state where they found the real evidence of their family's westward movement. A third researcher discovered that A. I.'s hallucinated occupation for their ancestor led them to research guild records and apprenticeship documents they had never considered, and those records revealed the ancestor's actual trade and the family connection that went with it. 

Here's the deeper lesson hidden in these recovery stories. Becoming good at catching and correcting A. I. errors makes you a better genealogist overall. The skills you develop for verifying A. I. information, source evaluation, evidence analysis, logical reasoning, are the same skills that make you better at evaluating every piece of genealogy information, whether it comes from A. I., family stories, online trees, or historical documents. In other words, learning to work safely with A. I. doesn't just protect you from A. I. errors. It protects you from all kinds of genealogy errors. That's why I believe every genealogist should spend time working with A. I., making mistakes, catching those mistakes, and learning from the recovery process. It's like a masterclass in genealogical proof standards, taught through hands-on experience. Alright, let's get practical. I want to send you away from this episode with specific tools and techniques you can use immediately to verify A. I. information and turn potential disasters into breakthroughs. The 5-minute fact check. Before you trust any specific information from A. I., spend 5 minutes running it through this checklist. Number 1. The Source Challenge Ask A. I., what sources would I need to verify this information? If it can't give you specific, searchable sources, treat the information as unverified. Number 2. The Specificity Test The more specific A. I.'s claims, the more suspicious you should be. If A. I. knows your ancestors' exact occupation, the exact ship they sailed on, or the exact family they worked for, ask yourself, where would this information come from? Number 3. The Google Cross Check Take any specific claims and search for them on Google, FamilySearch, or Ancestry. If you can't find corroborating evidence within 5 minutes, flag it for deeper verification later. Number 4. The Timeline Test Check whether A. I.'s claims fit with what you already know about your ancestors' life. Do the dates make sense? Do the locations align with other evidence? And finally, number 5. The Plausibility Check Does A. I.'s story sound too dramatic, too convenient, or too perfect? Real family history is usually messier and more mundane than we want it to be. And here is your emergency recovery kit. When you discover that A. I. has led you astray, use these prompts to get back on track. The Reset Prompt Quote I need to start over with my research on ancestor's name. Please ignore any previous information I've shared and help me create a research plan based only on these verified facts. List only what you can prove with documents. What types of records should I search for next? End quote. The context only prompt. Quote Without making claims about my specific ancestor, can you help me understand the historical context for Location, Time Period, Occupation. What was happening in this place and time that might affect record-keeping or family decisions? End quote. The Record Types Prompt Quote For someone living in specific place during specific time, what types of official records would have been created? I need to understand the record landscape, not information about my specific person. End quote. The Methodology Prompt Quote I'm trying to trace specific research goals like immigration path or parents' name. What is the standard genealogical methodology for this type of research? What steps should I take and in what order? End quote. I'll write the homework for this week. I'm giving you a specific assignment that will help you practice these verification skills. First is, find an AI mistake. Go back through any previous AI conversations about your genealogy. Use the verification techniques from today to identify at least one specific claim that you can't verify with sources. Two, document the error. Write down what AI told you and what evidence contradicts it. Three, turn it into research. Use the recovery prompts to develop a research plan that addresses the real question behind AI's fictional answer. And finally, four, share your experience. Email me at ancestorsinai at gmail.com or leave a comment at ancestorsinai.com about what you discovered. I'm collecting these stories because they help other listeners understand common AI error patterns. And remember, finding AI mistakes isn't a failure. It's a success. It means your verification skills are working. It means you're developing the critical thinking abilities that separate good genealogists from people who just collect stories. As we always say here on Ancestors and Algorithms, AI is your research assistant, not your researcher. When you keep AI in its proper role and apply proper verification techniques, these tools become incredibly powerful allies in your family history research. Before we wrap up today's episode, I want to address something that might be on your mind. This sounds like a lot of work. Is using AI for genealogy even worth it if I have to verify everything? The answer is absolutely yes, but with an important caveat. AI becomes more valuable as you become more skilled at using it safely. The genealogists who get the most benefit from AI are the ones who've developed strong verification habits and learn to prompt effectively. Think of it like learning to drive a car. When you first start driving, you're constantly checking your mirrors, worrying about other cars, thinking about every action you take. It feels overwhelming. But, as you develop good driving habits, those safety checks become automatic and you can focus on actually getting where you want to go. AI verification skills work the same way. The five minute fact check I described earlier will initially feel like it slows down your research. But, as these habits become automatic, you'll find that you can use AI much more effectively and confidently because you're not constantly worried about whether you can trust the information. One of the most important things we can do as genealogists using AI is to help each other develop good verification practices. When you find AI mistakes, share them with the community. When you discover effective verification techniques, teach them to others. I'm starting to see AI hallucinations show up in online family trees, genealogy databases, and family history publications. The only way to prevent the spread of AI-generated misinformation is for all of us to become skilled at spotting and correcting these errors. This is especially important for family history societies and genealogy groups. We need to develop community standards for evaluating AI-assisted research. We need to train volunteers and researchers to recognize the patterns of AI hallucinations. AI technology is evolving rapidly. The error rates I mentioned at the beginning of today's episode are likely to improve over time. New verification tools are being developed. Better prompting techniques are being discovered. But the fundamental principle will never change. No matter how sophisticated these tools become, genealogical proof standards still apply. Primary sources still matter. Critical thinking still trumps automation. The genealogists who thrive in an AI-enhanced world will be the ones who master the balance between leveraging AI's capabilities and maintaining rigorous verification practices. Speaking of AI capabilities, next week we're diving into something that might completely change how you think about stuck research problems. We're talking about using AI to analyze patterns across your entire family tree. Not individual ancestors, but the big picture patterns that reveal migration routes, naming traditions, occupational clustering, and family networks that you never noticed before. I'm going to show you how to use AI to spot the kind of patterns that professional genealogists spend years learning to see. And how these patterns' discoveries can break open multiple brick walls simultaneously. It's going to be fascinating, and I think it might be the episode that turns you from someone who uses AI occasionally into someone who can't imagine doing genealogy research without it. Before I let you go, I want to leave you with this thought. Every genealogy mistake you've ever made, whether it involved AI or not, taught you something valuable about research methodology. The goal isn't to avoid mistakes, it's to catch them quickly and learn from them. AI hallucinations are just a new type of genealogy mistake. They're often more sophisticated and compelling than the mistakes we've dealt with in the past, but they respond to the same cure. Careful Verification Against Primary Sources. If you've been hesitant to try AI for genealogy because you're worried about errors, I hope today's episode has given you the confidence to experiment safely. And if you've been using AI without proper verification techniques, I hope you'll implement some of the strategies we discussed today. Remember, you can email me at ancestorsandai at gmail.com or visit ancestorsandai.com to share your experiences, ask questions, or suggest topics for future episodes. We also do have a Facebook group, it's called Ancestors and Algorithms AI for Genealogy. Come join us over there and share experiences as well. As we always say here, AI is your research assistant, not your researcher. Use it wisely, verify everything, and happy researching. Until next week, I'm your host Brian, this is Ancestors and Algorithms, where family history meets artificial intelligence.