How I Use ChatGPT to Craft Genealogy Reports

As a passionate genealogist, I’m always on the lookout for innovative ways to present the rich tapestry of our ancestors’ lives. In recent times, I’ve turned to a nifty tool to help me with this task: ChatGPT by OpenAI. In today’s post, I’ll share the method behind how I incorporate ChatGPT into my genealogical research to craft engaging and coherent reports.

1. The Preliminary Work: Delving into the Past

Every genealogy project begins with diligent research. I dig deep into various sources, gathering as much information as possible about each individual that my customer is keen to learn about. From birth and marriage records to newspaper articles and old photographs, I sift through the sands of time to piece together their stories.

The primary platform I use for this is ancestry.com.au. It’s a comprehensive database that allows me to meticulously construct a family tree, attaching all the relevant documents, articles, and photos to each individual. This tree becomes a treasure trove of history, brimming with details that breathe life into the names of our forebears.

2. From Raw Data to Refined Report: Enter ChatGPT

Once the family tree is fleshed out and I feel confident about the information I’ve collected, it’s time to turn this raw data into a captivating narrative. And this is where ChatGPT shines!

Here’s my process:

  • Step One: I begin by copying all the pertinent information from the ancestry.com.au family tree. This includes every detail, big or small, that will help paint a vivid picture of the individual in question.
  • Step Two: I then paste this information into ChatGPT’s interface. Think of it as feeding the system a hearty meal of historical facts and anecdotes.
  • Step Three: I pose a request to ChatGPT, asking it to craft a report based on the provided details. The beauty of ChatGPT is its ability to weave together these snippets of information into a cohesive, engaging narrative.

3. The Final Product: A Narrative to Remember

In mere moments, ChatGPT presents me with a report that reads as if it were written by a seasoned historian. The prose is polished, the story flows seamlessly, and the essence of the individual’s life is captured with grace and respect.

Of course, I always review and fine-tune the report to ensure it aligns perfectly with the tone and style I aim for. But with ChatGPT as my writing assistant, the process is undeniably smoother and more efficient.

Wrapping Up

The world of genealogy is ever-evolving, and I believe in harnessing the power of technology to make our work more impactful. By integrating ChatGPT into my workflow, I’m able to deliver reports that not only inform but also captivate and resonate with my customers.

Whether you’re a fellow genealogist or someone intrigued by their family history, I hope this post has given you a glimpse into the modern methods we use to celebrate our past.

You Can Research Your Home

If you live in an older home in South Australia you may be able to find out about it by following the tips from the State Library and State Records of South Australia, you don’t need to be a historian to find things out.

You will be surprised by what you can find out about the home you live in.

The State Library has a downloadable guide for Researching your locality in the collections of the State Library of South Australia which covers

Almanacs and directories
• Architecture in South Australia
• Mapping sources for South Australian history
• South Australian newspapers

as well as Tracing the History of a House

State Records has House or Property History which takes you through how to use their Archives Search, the South Australian Integrated Land Information System (SAILIS), Location SA, Maps of the Surveyor General’s Office, 1808-1946, land tax assessment returns and more.

Working Across Two Windows

I have difficulty retaining information when I swap from one open web browser tab to another one.

I find it much easier to have two web browser windows open and make them approximately half the screen size each. The example above shows two web browser windows both open to different pages on Ancestry.com.au. I find this much easier to copy information from one window and manually enter it into the other. For example adding children to a family.

Photo Colourisation From My Heritage

Lots of my friends have been playing with this colourisation tool. If you haven’t tried it yet go to the link and click Upload Photo. As your photo is uploading you’ll be prompted to login or sign up. The login link is right at the very bottom of the popup window. It is free to sign up to My Heritage and the photo colourisation is free too.

https://www.myheritage.com/incolor

My great grandparents Jessie Boyd and Charles Wigley

You can download each photo as you colourise it or you can go to ‘My Photos’ and look at all of them and choose which ones you want to download from there. I don’t receive anything from My Heritage for publishing this post, it is simply that I like the tool they’ve created.