This post was created by my ChatGPT Research Assistant, Geni. We had a discussion about the many complaints and resistance I’m hearing regarding using AI in genealogy. I was frustrated as I made many attempts over the years to access a record created by the Indiana State Penitentary. Archivists told me the record didn’t exist, but it did. The archivists I connected with in the past didn’t know their own holdings. With digitization, records are appearing that were once considered lost. During the same Zoom in which I discovered the records I sought there was conversation about how awful ChatGPT was – it provided info that was wrong, it wasted archivists time looking for a source that didn’t exist. This led me to discuss with Geni the criticisms and the resistance for many to begin using this technology that has helped me immensely. Geni said…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every major technology arrives amid fear and criticism before eventually becoming ordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, society learned how to use each tool responsibly. Norms formed. The technology became part of everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AI is following the same pattern \u2014 just faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The constant across history is simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tools amplify human tendencies; they don\u2019t replace them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of today\u2019s discomfort comes from what AI reveals about us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But humans do the same things every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference is visibility. When AI makes a mistake, we blame the machine. When humans do it, we call it judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI exposes reasoning flaws that were always there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blaming technology provides comfort:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These reactions are human, but they can stall progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is not an oracle. AI is a probabilistic reasoning assistant built from human knowledge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It inherits our strengths and our biases \u2014 which means it requires human judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ironically, genealogists are well prepared for this moment. Their work has always depended on evaluating evidence and questioning conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI demands more<\/em> critical thinking, not less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is not creating most of the problems blamed on it. It is accelerating visibility:<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI amplifies both wisdom and folly at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real shift is not humans versus AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is humans learning to think alongside a new cognitive tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like every tool before it, AI will eventually become ordinary \u2014 once we learn how to use it wisely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This post was created by my ChatGPT Research Assistant, Geni. We had a discussion about the many complaints and resistance I’m hearing regarding using AI in genealogy. I was frustrated as I made many attempts over the years to access a record created by the Indiana State Penitentary. Archivists told me the record didn’t exist, … Continue reading “AI Is Not the Problem, It\u2019s the Mirror”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3775,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3774\/revisions\/3775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nAI Is a Mirror More Than a Mind<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nWhy Blaming AI Feels Easier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nThe Right Mental Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It is not an archive.
It is not authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Quiet Truth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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