On January 12th we heard from Avrohom Krauss with Introduction to Landmanshaftn and on January 22nd Jarrett Ross spoke to us about The Future of Genealogy.
Videos and handouts are available in our members only area.
Introduction to Landmanshaftn with Avrohom Krauss - January 12, 2025
Avrohom discussed the concept of Landsmanshaftn, mutual aid societies for Jewish immigrants from the same European town or region. He explained that these societies were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were often associated with social, religious, ideological, or political aspects. Avrohom mentioned that these societies often had cemeteries associated with them. He provided examples of different types of Landsmanshaftn. He also discussed the affiliations of these societies, including national organizations like the Independent Order Brith Abraham and regional federations. Avrohom emphasized the importance of these societies for genealogists researching their shtetl.
Avrohom discussed the importance of Landsmanshtn in the lives of immigrants, particularly in the United States. He explained that these societies provided social services, relief, and a sense of community for immigrants who were unfamiliar with the new culture and language. Avrohom highlighted the various benefits these societies offered, including work benefits, health benefits, and death benefits. He also emphasized the role of Landsmanshaftn in facilitating naturalization and providing assistance during the process. Avrohom shared examples of how these societies helped individuals, such as providing death certificates and burial plots. He stressed the importance of researching beyond immediate relatives to gain a fuller understanding of one's family history.
He emphasized the importance of records, particularly those found at YIVO in New York, which could provide valuable information about one's town and relatives.
Avrohom discussed the process of accessing records in New York, specifically focusing on the Center of Jewish History and the Jewish Gen Communities Database. He highlighted the importance of identifying the correct town and society records, and the potential for digitization of records in the future. Avrohom also explained the use of the Jewish Gen Communities Database for finding hometowns and Yizkor books. He mentioned the use of Kehilalinks as a supplementary source of information.
Avrohom shared his research methods, emphasizing the importance of using Google, Yizkor books, and Kehila links to find information about towns. He provided examples of how he found information about his mother's family town and suggested that if a town doesn't have a Yizkor book or Kehilalinks, one should look at nearby communities or the district capital. Avrohom also mentioned the Pinchas Hakelliot encyclopedia as a potential resource.
The Future of Genealogy with Jarrett Ross - Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Jarrett presented on the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications in genealogy, including facial recognition, DNA testing, and OCR technology. The team also discussed the potential of AI in genealogy research, and the challenges and potential solutions for OCR technology, particularly in handling non-Latin characters.
AI in Genealogy and OCR Advancements
Jarrett discussed the advancements in artificial intelligence(AI) and its applications in genealogy. He highlighted the potential of generative AI, optical character recognition (OCR), and facial recognition in assisting genealogists. Jarrett also emphasized the importance of verifying AI-generated information due to its potential for errors and bias. He mentioned the increasing reliability and accuracy of AI, as well as its potential for advanced automated research and family tree generation. Jarrett also touched on OCR technology, its current capabilities, and its future potential in scanning images and transcribing handwritten documents. He concluded by mentioning the ongoing efforts to improve OCR for languages like Cyrillic.
Facial Recognition in Genealogy Potential
Jarrett discussed the potential of facial recognitiontechnology in genealogy, highlighting its limitations and the need for largerdatabases of faces. He mentioned Related Faces as a company working on thisconcept and Scott Genzer's project which demonstrated the viability of facialrecognition in genealogy. Jarrett also discussed the future of facialrecognition in genealogy, including increased accuracy and the possibility ofrelationship projection, which could indicate a relative based on facialsimilarity. He emphasized the need for more photo searching databases andcapabilities, and the potential for facial recognition to provide a betterview into history and find unknown photographs of ancestors.
AI Integration in Genealogy Research
Jarrett discussed the integration of AI and DNA in genealogyresearch, highlighting the use of AI in DNA testing and its potential foradvanced data visualization and clustering. He introduced tools likeAncestry's Side View Tool, Auto Clusters, Auto Segments, and Genetic MatchAnalysis. Jarrett also discussed the use of AI in advanced relationshipestimation, citing examples like WATO and SegCm. He mentioned the possibilityof automated family tree creation, as demonstrated by 23andMe, and thepotential for future improvements in accuracy and ease of use. Lastly,Jarrett introduced the concept of reconstructed genomes, a method forcreating an ancestor's profile using DNA from living relatives and suggestedthe possibility of using this method to trace back further generations.
DNA Testing Advancements and Applications
Jarrett discussed the potential of DNA testing in the future, particularly in relation to artifact testing and advanced DNA testing. He explained that artifact testing involves extracting DNA from items such as stamps, envelopes, and jewelry, which could potentially provide a person's DNA profile. However, this method is costly and has low success rates due too degraded and low amounts of DNA. Jarrett also mentioned the possibility of rootless hair testing becoming available to the consumer market. He highlighted the advancements in DNA testing, including lower costs and higher accuracy, particularly with next-generation sequencing and low SNP tests. He shared a case where advanced DNA testing, specifically low SNP tests, helped solve a 50-year-old abduction case.
AI Applications in Genealogy Discussed
The meeting revolved around the use of AI in genealogy and its potential applications. Jarrett discussed the use of generative AI for indexing tasks, and the possibility of using AI for facial recognition in historical photos. He also mentioned the use of AI for summarizing genealogical data and the potential for AI to identify clothing and military uniforms in photos. The team also discussed the energy consumption of AI systems and the potential for AI to improve the accuracy of DNA testing. The conversation ended with discussions on 23andMe's new hybrid IBD program algorithm and the potential for AI to identify false positives in DNA testing.
OCR Challenges and Potential Solutions
In the meeting, JGS and Jarrett discussed the challenges and potential solutions for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, particularly in handling non-Latin characters. Jarrett mentioned that the technology is still in development and needs more data sets to improve its accuracy. He also highlighted the work of a Ukrainian individual working on an OCR project for Cyrillic handwriting. The team also discussed the use of Transkribus, a website offering 200 free credits for image uploads, and the potential of Google Lens for language translation.