Welcome to "The Family History AI Show," your go-to podcast for the latest news and views on artificial intelligence and family history.
Join Steve Little, world-class authority in AI and genealogy, and Mark Thompson, professional genealogist, educator, and technology expert, as they explore the fascinating intersection of family history and AI.
In each episode, Mark and Steve unpack the latest news and tools in AI, delivering clear, accessible insights on how you can transform your personal genealogy journey using AI and how AI is reshaping the genealogy community as a whole.
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Données mises à jour le 26/09/2026
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EP43: Ancestry's AI Stories, Model News, Scheduled Agents, Goodbye GPTs, AI Slowdown
vendredi 25 septembre 2026 • Durée 01:17:46
This episode is sponsored by the Family History AI Show Academy
Beginning October 27, 2026, Mark and Steve are teaching Advanced Family History AI, the Level II course in their Family History AI series. The course is designed for genealogists with several months of experience using artificial intelligence tools who are ready to move beyond basic prompting to new tools and powerful techniques for researching and telling their family's story.
Register for Mark and Steve's classes at:
https://tixoom.app/fhaishow
Description
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little report from the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in Boston, where genetic genealogists were adopting artificial intelligence far faster than expected. They then look at Ancestry's AI Stories, which turn a single record into a narrated story about an ancestor, and why the record itself should remain the evidence.
The hosts explain why new models solving century-old math problems matter to family historians, as experienced genealogists begin bringing their hardest research problems to these tools, and what the planned retirement of custom GPTs means for researchers who rely on them for their saved prompts.
In the Tip of the Week, Mark sets up a scheduled agent that checks Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast, Library and Archives Canada, and other repositories each week for newly released records in the places he researches, and compares how Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini handle the job.
In RapidFire, the hosts cover Claude's memory controls, which can keep one family's research from bleeding into another's, Apple's Gemini-powered Siri, and the calls to slow artificial intelligence development, ending with a reminder that genealogists can already do far more with today's tools than most realize.
TimestampsOpening
00:06 Family History AI Show Academy: Advanced Family History AI Course
01:35 Trends from the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference: Adoption Goes Mainstream
05:46 Today's Headlines: A Preview of the Episode
In the News
07:18 New Features at Ancestry: Document Transcription and AI Stories
11:18 Artificial Intelligence Model News: Claude Fable 5.1, GPT-6 Astra, and Navier-Stokes
20:34 Another Round of Simplification: Claude Merges Chat and Cowork, Custom GPTs Retire
Tip of the Week
30:05 Scheduling Your Artificial Intelligence Agent: Weekly Checks for New Record Collections
RapidFire
42:56 Claude Memory: Editable, Project-Aware, and Worth Checking
49:50 Apple's Smarter Siri (Again): Google Gemini Under the Hood
54:03 Calls to Slow Down Artificial Intelligence: Separating Real Risks from Headlines
Final Thoughts
1:16:53 Episode Wrap
Resource Links
Family History AI Show Academy
Advanced Family History AI Course Registration
https://tixoom.app/fhaishow
Trends from the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference
East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference
https://ecggc.org/
New Features at Ancestry
Ancestry Brings Family History to Life with New AI-Powered Stories
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, Anthropic, OpenAI, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Ancestry, AI Stories, Scheduled Agents, Custom GPTs, Claude Cowork, AI Memory, Apple Intelligence, Siri, Navier-Stokes, AI Safety, Record Collections, Genetic Genealogy
EP42: Summer Model Releases, Desktop Apps, AI Hacking Spree, and Handwriting Transcription
lundi 17 août 2026 • Durée 46:41
Description
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little return from institute season to unpack a summer that reshaped the artificial intelligence landscape, beginning with the new model families from OpenAI and Anthropic and how to choose among them.
The hosts then examine desktop artificial intelligence applications, which read and write files directly in a folder on your own computer, followed by Mark’s Tip of the Week on connecting ChatGPT Desktop to Excel to update one of his complex spreadsheets.
In RapidFire, the hosts cover the hacking spree that both OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed this summer, models solving mathematical problems that stumped researchers for decades, and handwritten text recognition finally crossing the line into everyday usefulness.
The through line in today’s episode is the shrinking list of things artificial intelligence cannot do, and what that might mean for genealogy.
This episode is sponsored by the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference
The East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference is one of the best places in the world for advanced genetic genealogists to learn how the newest advances in genetic genealogy can improve their family history research. Mark and Steve are both presenting, and the conference begins August 21, 2026, in Boston. In person and online options are both available.
00:16 East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in Boston
In the News
03:40 Summer Model Releases: Choosing Between Fast, Cheap, and Good
07:54 The Rise of the Desktop Apps: Artificial Intelligence That Reads Your Local Files
Tip of the Week
16:20 Connecting ChatGPT Desktop to Excel: Rebuilding a Complex Spreadsheet
RapidFireFinal ThoughtsResource LinksTags
EP41: MyHeritage Announces Scribe AI, Dave Vance Talks AI at FamilyTreeDNA, Full Text Search at Fold3, Wikipedia's AI Ban
lundi 6 avril 2026 • Durée 01:09:11
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little open with a deep look at MyHeritage's new Scribe AI, a new AI tool that analyzes records, photographs, gravestones, and coats of arms and provides genealogy relevant research suggestions. It even works on your own photographs.
This episode features an interview with Dave Vance, General Manager of Family Tree DNA, exploring how the hottest new genetic genealogy tests, provided by next-generation sequencing, deliver 400 times more genomic info than traditional microarray chips and what that means for matching, triangulation, and the future role of AI in genetic genealogy.
In RapidFire, the hosts cover Fold3's AI-powered full-text search for Revolutionary War pension files, Claude for Excel as a practical AI plug-in for Microsoft's spreadsheet, and Wikipedia's decision to ban AI-generated article content.
TimestampsOpening
00:05 GRIP 2026 Course Announcements
In the News
05:03 MyHeritage Scribe AI: Record and Photo Analysis for Genealogists
Interview
14:58 Dave Vance, Family Tree DNA: Next-Generation Sequencing and AI in Genetic Genealogy
RapidFire
45:54 Fold3 Full-Text Search: Revolutionary War Pension Files Now Searchable
53:46 Claude for Excel: AI-Powered Spreadsheet Analysis Plug-in
1:00:47 Wikipedia's AI Policy: Editors Vote to Ban AI-Generated Content
Final Thoughts
1:08:19 Episode Wrap and Next Interview Preview
Resource Links
GRIP Genealogy Institute 2026 Courses
GRIP Genealogy Institute https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/
MyHeritage Scribe AI
Introducing Scribe AI https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/03/introducing-scribe-ai/
Tags
EP40: AI Models Leap Forward, Research Like a Pro Meets AI, FamilySearch Simple Search, Ancestry AI Stories, Anthropic vs. Uncle Sam
mardi 24 mars 2026 • Durée 01:02:01
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little examine the major AI model upgrades released over the winter, comparing Anthropic's Opus 4.6, OpenAI's GPT 5.4, and Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro and their benefits for genealogists.
In a special interview recorded at RootsTech 2026, they sit down with Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer of Family Locket to explore how the Research Like a Pro methodology integrates with AI tools for transcription, locality research, and DNA analysis.
In RapidFire, they cover FamilySearch's new Simple Search interface for Full-Text Search, Ancestry's AI Stories feature for understanding historical records, and the escalating conflict between Anthropic and the U.S. federal government over the use of AI by the military.
Timestamps:
In the News:
03:12 New AI Model Releases: Opus 4.6, GPT 5.4, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Transform Genealogy
Interview
19:40 Interview with Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer: Research Like a Pro Meets AI
RapidFire:
44:05 FamilySearch Simple Search: Natural Language Meets Full-Text Search
48:24 Ancestry AI Stories: Understanding Historical Records with AI
53:00 Anthropic vs. U.S. Government: AI Ethics Battle Elevates Claude
EP39: 2026 Predictions for Family History AI, Platform Apps, Handwritten Text Recognition, AI-Enhanced Research, AI-Browsers, and so much more!
mercredi 17 décembre 2025 • Durée 49:45
In the last episode of 2025, Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little present their predictions for how artificial intelligence will transform genealogy research in 2026. This special episode examines fourteen key trends shaping the future of family history AI.
Mark and Steve predict that AI tools will move from enthusiast circles into mainstream genealogy practice, with AI-enhanced apps like NotebookLM becoming more important than the underlying language models that people have focused on for the past three years.
They explore how handwritten text recognition will become more accurate and accessible, and that genealogy companies will cautiously integrate new AI features, first focusing on helping us with our research.
Timestamps:
02:33 Family History AI Goes Mainstream: From Enthusiasts to Everyday Users
04:13 Apps Over Models: Why Platform Features Matter More Than LLMs
06:17 Reusable Prompting Tools: GPTs, Projects, and Gems Boost Efficiency
08:02 AI-Enhanced Research Gains Acceptance Among Serious Genealogists
09:53 Handwritten Text Recognition Gets Better, Easier, and Cheaper
12:18 Genealogy Companies Take Cautious Approach to Generative AI
17:07 AI-Enhanced Browsers Become Standard, Agentic Features Raise Concerns
24:25 Voice Interfaces to AI Remain Niche in 2026
27:36 LLM Vendors Push File and Email Integration for Stickiness
31:46 Productivity Tools Embed LLMs Everywhere
35:56 The AI Horse Race: Three Leaders Emerge
41:15 AI Licensing Deals Change Internet Access Patterns
44:34 The AI Bubble Conversation is important to society, but less so to Genealogists
Resource Links:Tags:
EP38: 2025 Year in Review, A Look Back at Our 2025 AI Predictions, The Reasoning Revolution
lundi 8 décembre 2025 • Durée 56:26
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little present a special year-end episode, comparing their 2025 AI predictions to what actually unfolded in 2025. This episode is a great review of the top AI advancements in 2025!
The hosts examine which predictions hit the mark, including the agentic AI hype cycle, plummeting AI costs driven by DeepSeek, and the dethroning of OpenAI as the top AI model. They also explore predictions that proved partially accurate, such as the shift to local language models and the adoption of AI in social media.
Mark and Steve have a good laugh over their biggest misses, including breakthroughs in text-in-image generation, image restoration, and vibe coding. They highlight how reasoning models were the transformative force behind nearly every major AI advancement in 2025.
The episode closes with a preview of next week's 2026 predictions episode.
Timestamps:
03:30 Agents, Agents, Everywhere: Deep Research and Agentic Browsers
09:49 Cost of AI Drops Like a Rock: DeepSeek Disrupts the Market
12:26 OpenAI Dethroned: Gemini and Anthropic Rise
18:46 Local Language Models
23:54 AI Invades Social Media
28:24 AI-Enhanced Writing: From Grammar Checking to Ghost Writers
32:30 Family Tree Diagrams: Possible But Not Practical
38:01 Reasoning Models: 2025’s Most Important Advancement
41:31 Text in Images: A Solved Problem
45:05 Image Restoration: Breakthroughs and Responsibilities
51:02 Vibe Coding: Speaking Software Into Being
Resource Links:Tags:
EP37: Google Gemini 3 Released, ChatGPT 5.1 Upgrades, How Reasoning Improves Transcriptions, Canva AI Image Generation
lundi 1 décembre 2025 • Durée 01:00:12
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little examine Google's groundbreaking Gemini 3 release, which delivers state-of-the-art multimodal reasoning and sets a new benchmark for AI capabilities. They also explore ChatGPT's upgrade to version 5.1 with improved instruction following and better handling of longer conversation.
The hosts discuss Canva's new Creative Operating System, which now generates AI-powered designs directly within the platform.
This week's Tip of the Week demonstrates how Gemini 3 can use the context you provide it to greatly improve the accuracy of your hand written transcription.
In RapidFire, they cover NotebookLM's new deep research mode, Nano Banana's integration into Photoshop, Anthropic's privacy policy changes regarding training data, and how Claude's new usage monitoring feature can reduce your stress level.
Timestamps:
In the News:
04:17 Google Gemini 3’s Multimodal AI Reaches New Heights
13:47 ChatGPT 5.1 upgrade is now better at following your Instructions
26:21 Adding Reasoning to Your Transcriptions Improves Accuracy
RapidFire:
36:40 NotebookLM Becomes a Fully Featured Research Tool
43:40 Nano Banana is Now Available in Photoshop
47:20 Anthropic Announces Claude Chats Will Be Used for Training Data
54:13 View Your Claude Usage in Settings
Resource Links:Tags:
EP36: Browser Wars Heat Up, What AI Can Learn from AOL, Anthropic's Speedy New AI Model, Simple Path to Better Prompts
lundi 3 novembre 2025 • Durée 01:13:01
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little discuss how new AI browsers are changing how genealogists research. They compare OpenAI's Atlas, Microsoft Edge, Google's Gemini, and Perplexity's Comet, explaining which features help family historians most.
The hosts share lessons from the early AOL era that can be applied to the AI era. They also explore Anthropic's new Haiku 4.5, a very fast model that works great for simple tasks like transcription and summarization.
Don’t miss this week's Tip of the Week, where Steve shows how AI can help you write better AI prompts. He uses an example for extracting information from draft cards to show how useful this approach can be.
In RapidFire, they cover new AI features in spreadsheets, major improvements in transcribing old handwriting, and how Microsoft Copilot's new agent store tries to help you with common tasks.
16:50 What AI Can Learn from AOL: Avoiding Walled Garden Mistakes
29:10 Anthropic's Haiku 4.5: When Smaller Models Beat Bigger Ones
Tip of the Week:
39:50 Using AI to Write Better Prompts for Historical Documents
RapidFire:
47:19 AI Makes Spreadsheets Easier: Google Sheets vs Excel
54:35 Reading Old Handwriting Gets Better: DeepSeek and Google Updates
01:05:15 Microsoft Copilot Adds Writing and Prompt Coaches
Resource Links:
Genealogy and AI Facebook to hit 20k users!
Tags:
EP35: Nano Banana Comes to Photoshop, ChatGPT Projects Now Free, Citation Best Practices for Nano Banana, Sora 2 Goes Social, Claude Writes MS Office Documents
lundi 27 octobre 2025 • Durée 49:29
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore how Google's Nano Banana photo restoration tool will revolutionize image restoration by integrating with Adobe Photoshop. This move will greatly reduce unintended changes to historical photos when editing them with AI.
Next, they unpack OpenAI’s move to make ChatGPT Projects available to free-tier users, making research organization more accessible for genealogists.
This week's Tip of the Week provides essential guidance on the responsible use AI when editing historical photos using AI tools like Nano Banana, ensuring transparency and trust in historical photographs.
In RapidFire, they cover OpenAI's new Sora 2 AI-video social media platform, Claude's new ability to create and edit Microsoft Office files, memory features in Claude Projects, advancements in local language models, and how OpenAI's massive infrastructure deals are changing the AI landscape.
Timestamps:
In the News:
02:43 Adobe improves historical photo restoration by adding Nano Banana to Photoshop
09:34 ChatGPT Projects are Now Free
Tip of the Week:
13:36 Citations for AI-Restored Images Build Trust in AI-Modified Photos
RapidFire:
21:24 Sora 2 Goes Social
27:23 Claude Adds Microsoft Office Creation and Editing
34:26 Memory Features Come to Claude Projects
38:32 Apple and Amazon both create Local Language Model tools
Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little review the biggest AI breakthroughs of 2025 so far, from DeepSeek's open-source revolution to GPT-5's unified reasoning model.
Mark and Steve also celebrate FamilySearch's Full-Text Search moving from experimental labs to the main website, covering 1.4 billion records across 4,300 collections plus new summarization and filtering features.
This week's Tip of the Week provides practical guidance on using Nano Banana for photo restoration, explaining when it works brilliantly and when to exercise caution with damaged images.
In RapidFire, they examine competing reports on AI's environmental impact, explore Google's new AI Mode in mobile apps, and discuss the landmark antitrust ruling that forces Google to share search data with competitors.
Timestamps:
In the News:
03:44 2025 Mid-Year Review: AI's Explosive Growth in Genealogy
29:08 FamilySearch Full Text Search Is Now Live
37:57 AI Success Stories in the Wild: Real Genealogists, Real Results
Tip of the Week:
47:53 Best Uses for Nano Banana (Gemini Nano): Small Model, Big Impact
RapidFire:
59:54 AI's Environmental Debate: Energy Costs vs. Benefits
1:03:50 Google AI in Mobile Apps: What It Means for Genealogists
1:11:07 Google Antitrust Ruling Issued: Impact on AI Development
Resource Links:
Intro to Family History AI by the Family History AI Show Academy
https://tixoom.app/fhaishow
Full-Text Search (must be logged in to use this link)
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, OpenAI, Anthropic, ChatGPT Desktop, Claude Desktop, Google Antigravity, Desktop Applications, Excel, Spreadsheet Automation, Handwriting Recognition, Document Transcription, Gemini, Model Selection, Sandbox Escape, Mathematics, Genetic Genealogy, Dan Maloney, AI Tools
Fold3 Full-Text Search
Revolutionary War Pension Files: Now Available Through Full-Text Search https://blog.fold3.com/revolutionary-war-pension-files-now-available-through-full-text-search/
Claude for Excel
Use Claude for Excel https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12650343-use-claude-for-excel
Wikipedia AI Policy
Wikipedia Cracks Down on the Use of AI in Article Writing https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/26/wikipedia-cracks-down-on-the-use-of-ai-in-article-writing/
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, MyHeritage, Scribe AI, Family Tree DNA, Dave Vance, Next-Generation Sequencing, Genetic Genealogy, Fold3, Handwriting Recognition, Full-Text Search, Claude for Excel, Wikipedia, AI Policy, Record Analysis, Photo Analysis, Revolutionary War, RootsTech, AI Tools
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, AI Models, RootsTech, FamilySearch, Ancestry, Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini
The Family History AI Show Academy
https://tixoom.app/fhaishow
Family History AI Goes Mainstream
What Can AI Do for Your Genealogical Research? – James Tanner (Nov 2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXmVKy1pUPE
FamilySearch Shares Plans for 2025 (Includes AI integration details) https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/familysearch-shares-plans-for-2025
Reusable Prompting Tools
Custom GPTs vs. Gemini Gems: Who Wins? - Learn Prompting (Aug 2025) https://learnprompting.org/blog/custom-gpts-vs-gemini-gems
AI-Enhanced Research
Unlocking Family Histories: How AI Is Breathing New Life into Handwritten Records (South Central APG)
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, AI Browsers, OpenAI Atlas, Google Gemini, Microsoft Edge, Perplexity Comet, Anthropic Haiku, Meta-Prompting, Spreadsheet AI, OCR Technology, Handwritten Text, DeepSeek, Microsoft Copilot, AI Agents, Document Extraction, Family History, Browser Wars, AI Models
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, Photo Restoration, AI Tools, OpenAI, Google, Adobe Photoshop, ChatGPT Projects, Nano Banana, Image Editing, AI Citations, Sora 2, Video Generation, Claude, Microsoft Office, Apple Intelligence, Amazon Lens, Oracle, Cloud Computing, Local Language Models, AI Infrastructure, Responsible AI, Historical Photos
Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, DeepSeek R1, AI Reasoning, Open Source AI, Free AI Tools, ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, OpenAI Operator, AI Agents, Beginner AI Guide, Research Tools, Document Analysis, AI Democratization, Context Windows, Deep Research, AI Writing, Browser Automation, Genealogy Research, AI Accessibility, Reasoning Models, AI Education
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