Mori Magazine

Developing ChatGPT Plugins for Genealogy Research
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Genealogy research involves uncovering details about your ancestry through historical records, DNA analysis, interviews with relatives, and more. It can be a fascinating yet challenging process. ChatGPT's conversational abilities provide an intriguing opportunity to create AI assistants that can understand genealogy concepts and even provide personalized guidance.

But ChatGPT's current model is general-purpose - it lacks niche knowledge about genealogy concepts and data sources. This provides an opening for developers to build custom ChatGPT plugins that equip the AI with genealogical intelligence.

Getting Started with Plugin Development

Creating a custom plugin requires machine learning and software development skills. A good starting point is to train conversational models using genealogy dialog data. Dialog datasets provide examples of questions and answers related to domain knowledge.

Some key types of dialog to collect for a genealogy plugin include:

- Questions about ancestors based on details the AI is given (names, locations, eras) and the AI providing information it finds in its genealogical knowledge base

- Discussing and interpreting DNA test results

- Walking through strategies for overcoming brick walls in one's research

- Explaining relationships between family members across generations

After collecting dialog data, developers can train conversational models using frameworks like ConveRT and Anthropic's Claude to ingest these examples. The models can then be packaged into Plugins that enhance ChatGPT's capacities.

Potential Capabilities

More advanced genealogy plugins could have interactive abilities:

- Accept ancestor details through structured data vs just conversational text

- Generate family trees visually showing the information it has gathered on relatives

- Pull actual genealogical records from ancestry databases based on the specifics it's given

- Make guided suggestions for advancing one's research and breaking down brick walls

There is tremendous potential in developing plugins that evolve ChatGPT into an AI genealogist. With thoughtful design and training with quality data, these tools may one day provide both novice and experienced researchers with an intelligent guide.

The innovations won't stop there. With generative abilities and data analysis capacities, AI could surface insights about one's ancestry and legacy that have never been feasible before. Though with new technology also comes thoughtful consideration of ethical application.

As with any rapidly evolving technology, it's an exciting frontier that warrants both vision and wisdom as progress continues.