Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming ubiquitous, and it’s having a huge impact on genealogy. The many ways it’s being used include indexing and transcribing historical records, and enhancing searches.

I recently dipped my toes in the AI waters to try a different application for AI. Using information from official records I wrote descriptions of my convict ancestors. Then I asked an AI bot to create images of them based on the descriptions. 

Convict records often include physical details including the person’s height, eye and hair colour, complexion and marks like scars, tattoos, and moles. The AI bot took this information and presented me with images designed to match. I made adjustments by asking the bot to add, remove and change features. The portrait-style images don’t show features like tattoos, although several of the men had them.

AI doesn’t do everything you ask, and sometimes the results are mixed up. It can be two steps forward and one step back, and the bot doesn’t always remember or action everything from previous steps. It wouldn’t always add the features I wanted it to, either. The results can also vary, even if you ask the same thing more than once, which is rather frustrating.

Despite that, I did end up with relatively realistic AI-generated images. How close they are to reality is anyone’s guess, but it was an interesting experiment.

These three pictures are all based on the description of Mary Ann, a 22-year-old from Edinburgh. She was a servant convicted of stealing in 1829. She had a ruddy complexion with little freckles and was four feet and eleven-and-a-half inches tall. Her hair was brown and her eyes hazel.

Next are George and Harriet. George worked for a cheese monger in London until he was transported at the age of 19. He was five feet and three inches tall, had a slight figure and sallow complexion. His hair was black and his eyes were hazel. Harriet, 28, was a mother of two from London, and described by a newspaper as a genteel young woman, though she’d fallen on hard times and been arrested for stealing. She was four feet and nine inches tall, of swarthy appearance, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Then there’s Thomas and Richard. Thomas was a 21-year-old blacksmith from Bath, transported in 1836. He was five feet and six-and-a-half inches tall, had a fair complexion, light brown hair and hazel grey eyes. Transported in 1827, Richard was 22 and a miner from Yorkshire. He was five feet and nine-and-a-quarter inches tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Finally, here are two pictures based on the description of William who was 21, a farm labourer from Worcestershire. He was five feet and two-and-a-half inches tall. He had a dark ruddy complexion, brown hair and brown eyes.

What do you think? How much do they look like their descriptions?

Selected references

All images in this post were created using Microsoft Copilot.

RootsTech. ‘How to Use AI for Family History Experiences’. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/how-to-use-ai-for-family-history-experiences, accessed 1 June 2024.

MyHeritage Knowledge Base. ‘AI & Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence for Family History Research’. https://education.myheritage.com/article/ai-genealogy-harnessing-the-power-of-artificial-intelligence-for-family-history-research/, accessed 6 June 2024.

Legacy Tree Genealogists. ‘Using AI Effectively for Genealogy Research’. https://www.legacytree.com/blog/using-ai-for-genealogy-research, accessed 19 July 2024.

Family Tree Magazine. ‘A Genealogist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence’. https://familytreemagazine.com/resources/software/ai-and-genealogy/, accessed 19 July 2024.

Amy Johnson Crow. ‘Using ChatGPT for Genealogy – Accurately’. https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/using-chatgpt-for-genealogy-accurately/, accessed 19 July 2024.

Lisa Louise Cooke. ‘Shocking Results! Should You Use AI Chatbots for Genealogy’. https://lisalouisecooke.com/2023/06/22/ai-chatbots-genealogy/, accessed 19 July 2024.