The Family History AI Show

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 Users04:13 Apps Over Models: Why Platform Features Matter More Than LLMs06:17 Reusable Prompting Tools: GPTs, Projects, and Gems Boost Efficiency08:02 AI-Enhanced Research Gains Acceptance Among Serious Genealogists09:53 Handwritten Text Recognition Gets Better, Easier, and Cheaper12:18 Genealogy Companies Take Cautious Approach to Generative AI17:07 AI-Enhanced Browsers Become Standard, Agentic Features Raise Concerns24:25 Voice Interfaces to AI Remain Niche in 202627:36 LLM Vendors Push File and Email Integration for Stickiness31:46 Productivity Tools Embed LLMs Everywhere35:56 The AI Horse Race: Three Leaders Emerge41:15 AI Licensing Deals Change Internet Access Patterns44:34 The AI Bubble Conversation is important to society, but less so to GenealogistsResource Links:The Family History AI Show Academy https://tixoom.app/fhaishowFamily History AI Goes MainstreamWhat Can AI Do for Your Genealogical Research? – James Tanner (Nov 2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXmVKy1pUPEFamilySearch Shares Plans for 2025 (Includes AI integration details) https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/familysearch-shares-plans-for-2025Reusable Prompting ToolsCustom GPTs vs. Gemini Gems: Who Wins? - Learn Prompting (Aug 2025) https://learnprompting.org/blog/custom-gpts-vs-gemini-gemsAI-Enhanced ResearchUnlocking Family Histories: How AI Is Breathing New Life into Handwritten Records (South Central APG)https://southcentralapg.org/2025/08/16/unlocking-family-histories-how-ai-is-breathing-new-life-into-handwritten-records/Handwritten Text RecognitionA new Google model is nearly perfect on automated handwriting recognition - Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45887262Cautious AI from Genealogy CompaniesAI-Enhanced BrowsersCompliance alert: Do not use AI browsershttps://vinciworks.com/blog/compliance-alert-do-not-use-ai-browsers/Content Integration with ChatbotsGemini vs Copilot: A Quick Comparison Guide (2025) - Tactiqhttps://tactiq.io/learn/gemini-vs-copilotAI in Office Productivity ToolsMicrosoft Copilot in 2025: What's Changed & What's Next | Aldridgehttps://aldridge.com/microsoft-copilot-in-2025-whats-changed-whats-next/Monthly Round Up: New Features in Microsoft 365 Copilot (Dec 2025)https://dynamicscommunities.com/ug/copilot-ug/monthly-round-up-new-features-in-microsoft-365-copilot/The AI Horse RaceThe Best AI in October 2025? We Compared ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini & Others - FelloAIhttps://felloai.com/the-best-ai-in-october-2025-we-compared-chatgpt-claude-grok-gemini-others/The 2025 AI Coding Models: Comprehensive Guide to the Top 5 Contenders - CodeGPThttps://www.codegpt.co/blog/ai-coding-models-2025-comprehensive-guideAI Licensing DealsContent Licensing Agreements Will Concentrate Markets Without Standardized Access - ProMarket(Nov 2025) https://www.promarket.org/2025/11/20/content-licensing-agreements-will-concentrate-markets-without-standardized-access/The False Hope of Content Licensing at Internet Scale - ProMarkethttps://www.promarket.org/2025/11/19/the-false-hope-of-content-licensing-at-internet-scale/The AI Bubble ConversationThe AI boom will turn to bust in 2026https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-ai-boom-will-turn-to-bust-next-year-says-this-forecaster-who-offers-his-trade-of-the-year-9c2a2332OUTLOOK 2026 Promise and Pressure - J.P. Morgan (Discusses AI market stability vs bubble risks)https://www.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpmorgan/documents/wealth-management/outlook-2026.pdfTags:Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, AI Predictions, NotebookLM, HTR, AI Browsers, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude

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 Browsers09:49 Cost of AI Drops Like a Rock: DeepSeek Disrupts the Market12:26 OpenAI Dethroned: Gemini and Anthropic Rise18:46 Local Language Models23:54 AI Invades Social Media28:24 AI-Enhanced Writing: From Grammar Checking to Ghost Writers32:30 Family Tree Diagrams: Possible But Not Practical36:03 Handwriting Recognition: Reasoning Improves Results38:01 Reasoning Models: 2025’s Most Important Advancement41:31 Text in Images: A Solved Problem45:05 Image Restoration: Breakthroughs and Responsibilities51:02 Vibe Coding: Speaking Software Into BeingResource Links:Register for a Class with the Family History AI Show Academyhttps://tixoom.app/fhaishowAgentic AIAgentic AI In-Depth Report 2025https://hblabgroup.com/agentic-ai-in-depth-report/Perplexity's New AI-First Browser Kicks Off Agentic Applicationshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenwolfepereira/2025/07/11/perplexitys-new-ai-first-browser-is-kicking-off-agentic-applications/Cost of AIState of AI in 10 Chartshttps://hai.stanford.edu/news/ai-index-2025-state-of-ai-in-10-chartsFree AI Tools 2025https://thehumanprompts.com/free-ai-tools-2025-platforms/OpenAI DethronedGeoffrey Hinton says Google is 'beginning to overtake' OpenAIhttps://www.businessinsider.com/ai-godfather-geoffrey-hinton-google-overtaking-openai-2025-12Local AI HardwareAssessing the On-Device Artificial Intelligence (AI) Opportunityhttps://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/assessing-the-on-device-ai-opportunity.pdfFamily Tree DiagramsExplore how powerful AI image editing can support advanced creative workflows.https://deepmind.google/models/gemini-image/pro/Text in ImagesNano Banana Pro Review: Is Google's AI Image Generator Too Good?https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/google-nano-banana-pro-ai-image-generator-review/Vibe CodingNo code, big dreamshttps://www.businessinsider.com/non-technical-people-vibecoding-lessons-ai-apps-2025-9Image RestorationResponsible AI Photo Restorationhttps://makingfamilyhistory.com/responsible-ai-photo-restoration/Protecting Trust in Historical Imageshttps://craigen.org/protecting-trust-in-historical-images/Tags:Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, AI Predictions, Reasoning Models, DeepSeek, Gemini, Image Restoration, Vibe Coding, Agentic AI

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 Heights13:47 ChatGPT 5.1 upgrade is now better at following your Instructions22:39 Canva Creative Operating System: AI-Powered Design GenerationTip of the Week:26:21 Adding Reasoning to Your Transcriptions Improves AccuracyRapidFire:36:40 NotebookLM Becomes a Fully Featured Research Tool43:40 Nano Banana is Now Available in Photoshop47:20 Anthropic Announces Claude Chats Will Be Used for Training Data54:13 View Your Claude Usage in SettingsResource Links:Intro to Family History AI by the Family History AI Show Academyhttps://tixoom.app/fhaishowGoogle Gemini 3Introducing Gemini 3: A New Era of Intelligencehttps://blog.google/products/gemini/gemini-3/ChatGPT 5.1A smarter, more conversationalhttps://openai.com/index/gpt-5-1/GPT-5.1 New Features Explainedhttps://scalevise.com/resources/gpt-5-1-new-features/Canva Creative Operating SystemIntroducing Canva's Creative Operating Systemhttps://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/creative-operating-system/NotebookLM Deep ResearchNotebookLM adds Deep Research and support for more source typeshttps://blog.google/technology/google-labs/notebooklm-deep-research-file-types/Nano Banana in PhotoshopCreate with unlimited generations using Google Gemini 3 (Nano Banana Pro) in Adobe Fireflyhttps://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2025/11/20/google-gemini-3-nano-banana-pro-firefly-photoshopAnthropic Privacy Policy UpdateAnthropic Will Use Claude Chats for Training Data: How to Opt Outhttps://www.wired.com/story/anthropic-using-claude-chats-for-training-how-to-opt-out/Updates to Consumer Terms and Privacy Policyhttps://www.anthropic.com/news/updates-to-our-consumer-termsClaude Usage MonitoringUsage Limit Best Practiceshttps://support.claude.com/en/articles/9797557-usage-limit-best-practicesTags:Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, Family History, Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Canva, NotebookLM, Nano Banana, Anthropic Claude, Photo Restoration

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.Timestamps:In the News:01:20 Browser Wars Heat Up: OpenAI Atlas, Edge, and Gemini Compete16:50 What AI Can Learn from AOL: Avoiding Walled Garden Mistakes29:10 Anthropic's Haiku 4.5: When Smaller Models Beat Bigger OnesTip of the Week:39:50 Using AI to Write Better Prompts for Historical DocumentsRapidFire:47:19 AI Makes Spreadsheets Easier: Google Sheets vs Excel54:35 Reading Old Handwriting Gets Better: DeepSeek and Google Updates01:05:15 Microsoft Copilot Adds Writing and Prompt CoachesResource Links:Genealogy and AI Facebook to hit 20k users! https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogyandaiAn In-Depth Look at OpenAI's AI Browserhttps://intuitionlabs.ai/articles/chatgpt-atlas-openai-browserDeepSeek AI created DeepSeek-OCR https://www.infoq.com/news/2025/10/deepseek-ocr/Nearly perfect on handwriting recognition https://generativehistory.substack.com/p/has-google-quietly-solved-two-ofGlobal AI Browser Market Sizehttps://market.us/report/ai-browser-market/Benchmarking Claude Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.5 on 400 Real PRshttps://www.qodo.ai/blog/thinking-vs-thinking-benchmarking-claude-haiku-4-5-and-sonnet-4-5-on-400-real-prs/Anthropic’s Claude Haiku 4.5 Brings Enterprise-Grade Speed and Savings to Customer-Facing AIhttps://www.cxtoday.com/contact-center/anthropics-claude-haiku-4-5-brings-enterprise-grade-speed-and-savings-to-customer-facing-ai/Top 10 AI Spreadsheet Toolshttps://www.knack.com/blog/top-ai-spreadsheet-tools/Prompt Coach: Prebuilt agent for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chathttps://rishonapowerplatform.com/2025/03/11/prompt-coach-prebuilt-agent-for-microsoft-365-copilot-chat/Tags: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

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 Photoshop09:34 ChatGPT Projects are Now FreeTip of the Week:13:36 Citations for AI-Restored Images Build Trust in AI-Modified PhotosRapidFire:21:24 Sora 2 Goes Social27:23 Claude Adds Microsoft Office Creation and Editing34:26 Memory Features Come to Claude Projects38:32 Apple and Amazon both create Local Language Model tools44:47 OpenAI's Big Data Centre Deal with Oracle Resource LinksOpenAI announces free access to ChatGPT Projectshttps://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notesEngadget: OpenAI Rolls Out ChatGPT Projects to Free Usershttps://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-rolls-out-chatgpt-projects-to-free-users-215027802.htmlForbes: OpenAI Makes ChatGPT Projects Freehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2025/09/14/small-business-technology-roundup-microsoft-copilot-does-not-improve-productivity-and-openai-makes-chatgpt-project-free/Responsible AI Photo Restorationhttps://makingfamilyhistory.com/responsible-ai-photo-restoration/Claude now has memory, but only for certain usershttps://mashable.com/article/anthropic-claude-ai-now-has-memory-for-some-usersNew Apple Intelligence features are available todayhttps://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/09/new-apple-intelligence-features-are-available-today/Introducing Amazon Lens Livehttps://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/search-image-amazon-lens-live-shopping-rufusAmazon Lens Live Can Scan and Pull Up Matcheshttps://www.pcmag.com/news/spot-an-item-you-wish-to-buy-amazon-lens-live-can-scan-and-pull-up-matchesA Joint Statement from OpenAI and Microsoft About Their Changing Partnershiphttps://openai.com/index/joint-statement-from-openai-and-microsoft/The Verge: OpenAI and Oracle Pen $300 Billion Compute Dealhttps://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/776170/oracle-openai-300-billion-contract-project-stargateReuters: OpenAI and Oracle Sign $300 Billion Computing Dealhttps://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-oracle-sign-300-billion-computing-deal-wsj-reports-2025-09-10/?utm_source=chatgpt.comTagsArtificial 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