Jose Mier is not exactly a name that allows me to relax when it comes to genealogy. Being named Jose Mier has turned family history research into something of a personal scavenger hunt. I am always looking for another Jose Mier somewhere in the world, wondering whether we are related, whether our families came from the same part of Spain or Mexico, or whether we simply happen to share a name. Now, I have discovered another tool that can help with this never-ending investigation: artificial intelligence. As an amateur genealogist living in Sun Valley, California, I have become increasingly interested in how AI can help researchers sort through historical records, decipher old documents, find potential connections, organize research and even suggest new avenues to investigate.
AI Has Arrived in the Genealogy World
Artificial intelligence may sound like something more appropriate for a science-fiction movie than a genealogy project involving dusty church records, handwritten letters and census forms. But AI is already being used in genealogy. FamilySearch, for example, uses artificial intelligence and handwriting-recognition technology to help make historical records searchable. Its tools can assist with transcribing documents, finding information in historical records and identifying potential connections in a family tree.
That is quite a change from the old-fashioned method of staring at a handwritten document for twenty minutes and trying to determine whether the third letter in someone’s surname is an “r,” an “n” or evidence that the person writing it had simply given up on penmanship.
For someone like me, who spends considerable time searching for people named Jose Mier, AI can potentially save hours of tedious work. It doesn’t eliminate the need for research, but it can help me decide where to look next.
What Can AI Actually Do for Genealogists?
One of the most useful applications is transcription. Historical records are frequently handwritten, sometimes in faded ink and sometimes in handwriting that appears to have been produced during an earthquake. AI-powered systems can analyze images of these documents and attempt to convert handwriting into searchable text.
This can be particularly valuable when working with baptismal records, marriage registers, wills, military documents, land records and correspondence. Instead of manually reading hundreds of pages, a researcher may be able to search a collection for a particular surname or place.
AI can also help organize information. Suppose I have accumulated dozens of records relating to different members of the Mier family. I might ask an AI system to organize the information chronologically, identify recurring locations, create a timeline or point out where information is missing.
That doesn’t prove anything, of course. It simply gives me a more organized starting point.
And sometimes a starting point is exactly what a genealogist needs.
Searching for People With the Same Name
My particular obsession—finding other Jose Miers—makes AI especially interesting.
Imagine that I have records for a Jose Mier born in Mexico in the nineteenth century. I know the approximate birth year, the name of a spouse, the names of several children and perhaps the town where he lived. An AI research tool could potentially help identify records containing similar combinations of names, dates and places.
FamilySearch currently offers an AI Research Assistant that can present potential record matches and identify possible tree-extending opportunities, such as a possible parent, spouse or child not already included in a family tree. FamilySearch specifically emphasizes that researchers should review these suggestions rather than automatically accepting them.
That last part is important.
If an AI system tells me that it has found another Jose Mier, I am not going to immediately declare him my long-lost cousin. With my luck, he could be a Jose Mier living 2,000 miles away who happens to have a completely unrelated family.
The name alone isn’t evidence.
AI Can Help With Historical Context
Another fascinating use for artificial intelligence is understanding the historical world in which an ancestor lived.
Suppose I discover that one of my ancestors lived in northern Spain during the 1700s. I can use AI to generate questions about the region during that period.
What occupations were common?
What languages were spoken?
What was transportation like?
What religious records might exist?
What political events affected the area?
What were the major migration patterns?
What kinds of records might mention an ordinary farmer, merchant or laborer?
These questions can turn a collection of names and dates into something much more meaningful.
Genealogy isn’t just about discovering that someone was born in 1764. I want to know what life was actually like in 1764. Did that person live in a stone village? Did he farm? Did she work in a local trade? Did the family own land? Were they affected by war or famine? Did relatives leave the region?
AI can help me develop these questions and provide historical background that gives me ideas for further research.
AI and the Mier Surname
The Mier surname provides an excellent example of why historical context matters.
My research into the name has taken me toward northern Spain, particularly the region associated with the Mier place name. From there, the history of Spanish exploration and migration provides an obvious avenue for further research.
The movement of people from Spain to the Americas created enormous genealogical trails. Families moved to Mexico, Central America, South America and eventually the United States. A surname that originated in one part of Spain could eventually appear in records thousands of miles away.
AI can help a researcher identify possible historical migration patterns, but again, those patterns are clues rather than proof.
If an AI program tells me that families from a particular Spanish region commonly migrated to Mexico, that does not mean my particular ancestor did so. I still need passenger records, church records, civil registrations, census information, land records, wills or other documentation to establish the connection.
That distinction is one of the most important rules of AI-assisted genealogy.
AI Can Help Read Old Photographs
AI is also changing the way genealogists work with photographs.
Old family photographs may contain clues that are difficult to recognize. AI-powered image tools can sometimes improve the readability of photographs, enhance faded images, identify visual details or help researchers examine photographs more closely.
A damaged photograph of a house, for example, might contain architectural clues about where an ancestor lived. A storefront might contain a business name. A military uniform could provide clues about someone’s service.
Even a photograph’s background can become evidence.
This is where genealogy gets particularly fun. Suddenly, that old photograph sitting in a family album isn’t merely a picture of Great-Grandpa standing beside a mysterious automobile. It may contain information about the period, location, occupation or circumstances of his life.
Using AI to Build a Timeline
One of my favorite potential uses for AI is creating timelines.
Genealogical research can become messy very quickly. I might have a birth certificate from one year, a census record several years later, a marriage record, an immigration document and then another census record.
AI can help organize these facts into chronological order.
For example:
1882: Birth in Mexico
1904: Marriage
1906: Birth of first child
1910: Census record
1913: Immigration to the United States
1915: Residence in California
1920: U.S. census record
Now I can see the story developing.
More importantly, I can spot gaps.
If someone supposedly arrived in California in 1913 but appears in a Mexican census in 1915, I have a problem worth investigating. Perhaps there are two people with the same name. Perhaps the date is wrong. Perhaps the census was taken before the person actually moved.
AI can help me identify those inconsistencies, but I have to investigate them myself.
AI Does Not Replace Original Records
This may be the most important point I can make about artificial intelligence and genealogy: AI is an assistant, not an authority.
FamilySearch itself advises researchers to review AI-generated results and verify information against original records and reputable sources.
That makes perfect sense.
AI can misunderstand handwriting. It can confuse people with similar names. It can misinterpret dates. It can make an incorrect connection between two records. Generative AI can also produce information that sounds completely convincing even when the underlying evidence doesn’t support it.
That last problem is particularly dangerous for genealogy because a plausible story is not necessarily an accurate story.
If AI tells me that a particular Jose Mier was the father of another Jose Mier, I want to see the evidence.
Where is the birth record?
Where is the baptismal record?
Where is the marriage record?
Where is the census?
Where is the immigration document?
Show me the paperwork!
AI and Genealogical Travel
Eventually, genealogy can take you away from your computer.
This is something I particularly enjoy about family history research. You can begin with a name in a database and eventually find yourself looking at a map of Spain, Mexico or another part of the world.
If research points toward northern Spain, for example, a genealogist might eventually decide to visit the region. Seeing the mountains, villages, churches and landscapes associated with an ancestral family can provide a perspective that no database can provide.
Imagine discovering that an ancestor lived in a small mountain community and then actually visiting that community.
Suddenly, the old baptismal record isn’t just a scanned page.
It belongs to a place.
You can see the church.
You can walk the roads.
You can look at the surrounding landscape.
You can understand why transportation might have been difficult and why families may have remained in the same region for generations.
AI can help me prepare for such a trip by identifying historical places, suggesting research questions and helping me understand the geography and history of an area.
But I still have to buy the plane ticket.
Unfortunately, I have yet to find an AI program capable of doing that part without also checking my credit card.
AI Can Suggest New Research Questions
Perhaps the greatest benefit of AI is not that it gives me answers. It is that it can give me questions.
A good genealogist eventually learns that every answer creates three more questions.
I find a birthplace.
Now I want the parents.
I find the parents.
Now I want their marriage.
I find the marriage.
Now I want their parents.
Then I discover that the surname is spelled differently in an earlier record.
And suddenly it is midnight and I’m still sitting at the computer.
AI can help generate possible avenues of investigation. It can suggest record types, historical sources, alternate spellings, geographic possibilities and questions I might not have considered.
FamilySearch’s current AI resources specifically include tools intended to help researchers work with historical records, search information and develop family histories.
For an amateur researcher, having that sort of brainstorming partner can be extremely useful.
Protecting Privacy
There is another issue genealogists need to consider: privacy.
Family historians sometimes work with information about living relatives, including names, birth dates, addresses, photographs and other personal information. Before putting sensitive family information into an AI system, researchers should understand how that service handles submitted information and whether the material may be retained or used in other ways.
There is also an ethical question about family photographs and stories. Just because I possess an old photograph doesn’t necessarily mean every possible use of it is appropriate.
Responsible genealogy means respecting living people as well as documenting those who came before us.
FamilySearch and RootsTech have published guidance specifically addressing responsible AI use in genealogy, including issues involving accuracy, privacy, disclosure and ethical research practices.
The Future of AI and Family History
I suspect we are only at the beginning of what artificial intelligence will do for genealogy.
Historical collections that were once difficult to search may become increasingly accessible. Handwritten documents may become searchable. Researchers may be able to ask sophisticated questions across enormous collections of records. Photographs may yield clues that previously went unnoticed.
For someone like me, that is exciting.
My goal isn’t to have a computer do my genealogy for me. Where would be the fun in that?
The fun is in the discovery.
I want to find the mysterious record. I want to recognize a familiar surname. I want to discover that two seemingly unrelated people might actually belong to the same family. I want to trace a migration route backward across generations and, if I’m lucky, eventually stand in the village where one of my ancestors lived.
AI can help me get there faster.
It can search, organize, transcribe, compare, summarize and suggest. But the final responsibility remains with me. I still need to examine the evidence, question assumptions and distinguish a promising clue from a proven genealogical fact.
And when it comes to finding another Jose Mier, I will continue the hunt personally.
After all, I can’t let artificial intelligence have all the fun.
For anyone interested in exploring AI-assisted genealogy, FamilySearch provides a useful starting point with its collection of resources on artificial intelligence and family history.