I have stepped into the Future of AI, that is Ancestry's AI
Will Ancestry Search use Google AI is my Question of the Day ?
A) While there's no indication that Ancestry.com specifically uses Google's AI tools for its search functionalities,
Ancestry.com heavily utilizes AI and machine learning in various aspects of its platform, including record searching and handwriting recognition.
Here's why:
Ancestry.com's AI: Ancestry.com develops and utilizes its own proprietary AI and machine learning algorithms, especially for handwriting recognition and making records searchable.
Examples of Ancestry.com's AI: They have used AI to transcribe the 1950 US Census, making it fully searchable, and also utilize AI for exploring records, enhancing family trees, and even creating AI biographies.
In Summary:
While Ancestry.com benefits from the broader advancements in AI, including those driven by Google, they primarily leverage their own AI systems for core functionalities like search.
3 Sources as Follows:
1) Ancestry® to Apply Handwriting Recognition Artificial Intelligence to Create a Searchable Index of the 1950 U.S. Census
Ancestry developed machine learning algorithms to power our proprietary AI handwriting recognition technology. Ancestry created AI software that reads handwriting from historical documents and transcribes the data, enabling our community to easily and quickly search historical records.
The technology uses a unique and iterative blend of machine and human evaluation which is based on an Ancestry-developed confidence score framework.
Given the unique nature of the 1950 U.S. Census and the unavailability of images in advance, Ancestry used a novel approach to simulate sample document images to ensure it is representative of anticipated variation in aged, inconsistent or damaged historical documents that may be encountered in order to train the AI.
Employees recreated full-size census forms in a variety of handwriting styles before intentionally damaging some of these forms by ripping, burning, and pouring liquid on the forms in order to simulate the wear and tear that historical documents go through over time.
Ancestry then re-scanned these forms, using them in our sample set to ensure our unique algorithms are prepared to support the anticipated condition of these 70-year-old historical documents.
https://careers.ancestry.com/blogs/ancestry-corporate/ancestry-to-apply-handwriting-recognition-artificial-intelligence-to-create-a-searchable-index-of-the-1950-u-s-census
2) Ancestry Updates: New AI Features for Your Family Tree and DNA! 1 Oct 2023
Ancestry seems to be on a major roll right now, consistently churning out new features one on top of the other! They have just released 2 new AI features to enhance your family history and genealogy, 1 for your family tree, and one for your DNA!
These new features are in BETA mode, which means not all may have it; they could tweak it, add to it, delete some of the questions or features; or they may decide to delete it all together.
https://www.knowwhowearsthegenesinyourfamily.com/blog/ancestry-updates-new-ai-features-for-your-family-tree-and-dna
3) Ancestry’s New Image Transcript Tool: AI-Powered Handwriting Transcription 23 Mar 2025
Ancestry has rolled out an exciting new feature currently in BETA: the Image Transcript tool! This AI-driven tool can transcribe handwritten journals, diaries, and letters that are uploaded to your family tree, making it easier than ever to preserve and read ancestral documents.
While still in development, this tool shows great promise in assisting genealogists with historical handwriting recognition.
https://www.knowwhowearsthegenesinyourfamily.com/blog/ancestrys-new-image-transcript-tool-ai-powered-handwriting-transcription
