Journaling with AI:
April Challenge: A to Z AI in Genealogy
Creating Compelling Family Narratives
Family history research often yields a wealth of facts—birth dates, census entries, migration records, and marriage certificates. But these facts alone don't tell the story of your ancestors' lives. The real challenge lies in transforming this collection of data points into compelling narratives that bring your ancestors to life and connect with readers, whether they're family members or a wider audience. This is where AI-assisted journaling offers exciting new possibilities.
The Narrative Challenge in Genealogy
Traditional family histories often fall into one of two categories: dry collections of facts or heavily fictionalized accounts that may entertain but stray from historical accuracy. Finding the middle ground—narratives that engage readers while remaining faithful to documented history—requires both creativity and discipline.
Consider the difference between these two passages about the same ancestor:
Fact-based approach: "Andrew Ralph Cutting was born in January 1887 in Kingston, Surrey, England, into a middle-class English family. He was the son of Harry Cutting (1844-1917) and Emma Newland (1848-1914)."
Narrative approach: "In 1911, Andrew Ralph Cutting's world revolved around the orderly streets of Kingston upon Thames, where he made his living as a life insurance surveyor, carefully calculating risks and probabilities for his clients' futures. A single man living with his parents, his days followed the predictable rhythm of suburban Surrey life - until the outbreak of war transformed him from a man who assessed risk to one who faced it as a Leading Seaman in the Royal Navy's Collingwood Battalion."
How AI Enhances Family Narrative Creation
AI offers several powerful capabilities for family narrative creation:
Contextual Enrichment - Adding historical context about social environment, cultural details, and occupational realities
Narrative Structure Development - Suggesting frameworks, identifying turning points, and creating parallel narratives
Voice and Style Assistance - Adapting writing style to match historical periods with appropriate vocabulary
Ethical Speculation Management - Generating plausible scenarios while clearly distinguishing between facts and speculation
Practical Approaches to AI-Assisted Family Journaling
Three effective methods for using AI in family narrative creation:
Practical Approaches to AI-Assisted Family Journaling
The Template Expansion Method
Create a basic timeline, ask AI to expand specific episodes with historical context, review and refine each segment, then develop transitions between expanded episodes.
The Journal Imagination Technique
Establish parameters about your ancestor, request plausible journal entries they might have written, review for historical accuracy, and clearly label as creative interpretation.
The Dialogue Approach
Use AI as a conversation partner by sharing what you know, asking exploratory questions, engaging in iterative refinement, and requesting alternative perspectives.
In this tenth episode of the A to Z AI in Genealogy I showcase some of my methodology in using my AI tools to assist in the development of a story of my Uncle Andy.
The Template Expansion Method
An effective approach uses AI to develop narrative templates:
Create a basic timeline: List key events in your ancestor's life in chronological order.
Ask AI to expand specific episodes: Select individual events and request expanded narrative treatment incorporating historical context.
Review and refine each segment: Modify the AI-generated content to better reflect your understanding of your ancestor and their circumstances.
Develop transitions: Use AI to help craft connections between these expanded episodes to create a cohesive narrative flow.
This approach allows you to build comprehensive narratives piece by piece, maintaining control over the development process.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part One: Timeline
I began with this prompt in Claude Sonnet:
Response from Claude:
Below is the segment that I wanted to focus on for telling his story of being a POW.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Two: Themes
I continued with these prompts in Claude Sonnet:
Claude’s Response:
Narrative Structure Development
Many genealogists struggle with organizing information into a compelling narrative. AI can help by:
Suggesting chronological frameworks that highlight key life transitions
Identifying dramatic turning points that might serve as narrative anchors
Proposing thematic organizations that reveal patterns across a life
Creating parallel narratives for couples or families experiencing the same events from different perspectives
These structural suggestions help transform collections of facts into stories with meaningful progression.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Three: Structure
I continued my prompting with Claude:
I chose: “The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting” From Kingston Surveyor to Naval POW
Claude’s Response:
The Journal Imagination Technique
For a more immersive approach, consider creating imagined journals:
Establish parameters: Provide AI with detailed information about your ancestor, including documented facts, family stories, historical context, and known personality traits.
Request journal entries: Ask AI to generate plausible journal entries your ancestor might have written at key moments in their life.
Review for historical accuracy: Carefully evaluate the generated content, ensuring it aligns with known facts and historical realities.
Clearly label as creative interpretation: Always ensure readers understand these entries are imaginative reconstructions, not discovered documents.
This technique can be particularly powerful for helping family members connect emotionally with their ancestors.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Four: Imagining
I continued my chats with Claude to dig deeper into what it was like for Andrew, in his transition from POW to Light Opera star.
Claude Responds:
Some sample dialogue followed:
”You wouldn't believe what we managed with nothing," he might have told Winnie over tea. "Our stage was blankets hung from the rafters. For costumes, we unpicked Red Cross parcels and sewed the fabric together. The Germans actually encouraged it—thought it kept us out of trouble."
"Before the war, I'd never sung a note in public," he might have confided. "But in Döberitz, we had this naval chaplain who insisted I join the Christmas concert. Said my speaking voice had a natural resonance. Started with sea shanties—familiar things—then some fellow who'd been with D'Oyly Carte taught us Gilbert and Sullivan."
"We had no women, of course," he might have explained to Winnie with a wry smile. "Young Williams from the Hawke Battalion made a surprisingly convincing Yum-Yum with a mop for a wig. When he got transferred to another camp, morale dropped for weeks."
Voice and Style Assistance
Finding an appropriate narrative voice can be challenging. AI offers support through:
Adapting writing style to match different historical periods without becoming inaccessible
Suggesting era-appropriate vocabulary and phrasing
Generating dialogue possibilities based on documented facts and historical context
Helping maintain consistent tone throughout longer narratives
This stylistic assistance helps create authentic-feeling narratives without requiring extensive historical linguistics knowledge.
Note: my next job was to transform this ‘data’ into ‘narrative’ for my story of Great Uncle Andy.
The content displayed above with Andrew’s photo from the Mikado, 1924 is part of a ‘work in progress’ in sharing The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting: From Kingston Surveyor to Naval POW.
Ethical Speculation Management
One of the most difficult aspects of family narrative writing is handling gaps in the historical record. AI can assist with:
Generating historically plausible scenarios based on available evidence
Clearly distinguishing between documented facts and reasonable speculation
Suggesting multiple interpretations of ambiguous information
Identifying where additional research might resolve uncertainties
This balanced approach helps create complete narratives while maintaining historical integrity.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Five: Speculation
Continuing my prompts for Claude in an iterative style brought to light the shared experiences of a POW in the Doberitz and Drytoz camps from 1914 to 1918. The prompt below described daily life in vivid detail and highlighted an important point that gave me an ‘aha’ moment of clarity; see below.
The Dialogue Approach
Using AI as a dialogue partner can be particularly effective for developing family narratives:
Share what you know: Provide AI with the documented facts about your ancestor and their historical context.
Ask exploratory questions: Prompt the AI with questions like "What might my ancestor's typical day have looked like?" or "How might they have experienced the economic depression of 1893?"
Engage in iterative refinement: Respond to AI suggestions with additional information, corrections, or follow-up questions to develop a more nuanced understanding.
Request alternative perspectives: Ask the AI to consider the same events from different viewpoints—perhaps those of different family members or community observers.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Six: Dialogue
This conversational process often yields insights and narrative possibilities you might not have considered otherwise.
My next prompt for Claude yielded some plausible dialogue:
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Seven: Insights
For my next prompt, I used Perplexity to gain a greater understanding of the POW experiences at Doberitz and Dyrotz. This would allow me to immerse myself in the time and location and peel back the layers of emotion.
Followup prompts with Claude gave me some new insights into how I could blend his post-war theatrical pursuits into his story.
Case Study: The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting
Part Eight: Creating the Narrative
The Final Product: The resulting narrative weaves documented facts with historical context and plausible experiences, creating a compelling story that honours Andrew’s life while acknowledging the speculative elements.
My revisited Blog Post “The Remarkable Life of Andrew Ralph Cutting: From Kingston Surveyor to Naval POW” is available for you to read and comment upon.
Best Practices for AI-Assisted Family Narratives
Maintain the Fact-Speculation Boundary
Always clearly distinguish between documented facts and speculative elements in your narratives.
Consider using different formatting, explicit acknowledgments, or narrative framing devices to make these distinctions clear to readers.
Research Before Generating
AI performs best when provided with specific, accurate information.
Before generating narrative content, conduct thorough research on the historical context relevant to your ancestor's life circumstances.
Stay Culturally and Historically Appropriate
Review AI-generated content carefully for anachronisms or cultural misrepresentations.
Modern AI may inadvertently impose contemporary values or perspectives on historical situations.
Incorporate Multiple Perspectives
Use AI to explore how different family members might have experienced the same events, adding richness and nuance to your family narratives.
Iterate and Refine
Treat AI-generated content as a first draft.
Review, edit, and refine this content based on your knowledge of your family history and additional research.
Maintain Your Voice
While AI can assist with structure and content, ensure the final narrative reflects your perspective and connection to your family history.
Share Development Process
When sharing AI-assisted narratives with family or broader audiences, consider being transparent about your creation process, helping readers understand the blend of research, technology, and personal insight that shaped the narrative.
Note: This is what I have done in this blog post to share the process of developing this story of my Uncle Andy.
Technology in Service of Human Connection
AI-assisted journaling and narrative creation represent powerful tools for family historians, but they remain exactly that—tools. The heart of compelling family narratives lies not in technological sophistication but in the human connection between storyteller, subject, and audience.
The most successful AI-assisted family narratives use technology to overcome technical challenges—organizing information, providing historical context, suggesting narrative structures—while preserving the uniquely human elements of storytelling: emotional connection, moral complexity, and the search for meaning across generations.
By thoughtfully incorporating AI assistance into your family history writing practice, you can create narratives that transform names and dates into vivid stories of real people facing real challenges—stories that help present and future generations understand their place in the long chain of family history.
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Have you tried using AI to develop family narratives? What approaches have worked best for you? Share your experiences in the comments below!