I just returned from RootsTech 2026, and I have plenty of exciting news and several recommendations for online sessions to view. The industry’s largest conference was held March 5-7 in Salt Lake City.
While the theme for this year’s conference was “Together” – to learn, share, and make family discoveries together – it will come as no surprise that the unofficial theme and party crasher was “artificial intelligence”.
In this blog post, I offer my recommendations for “must-see” sessions and announce some of the new tools and features coming later in 2026 for some of our favorite genealogy websites. Many sessions are recorded and found free of charge on the FamilySearch On-Demand Library – just logon or create a free account.
Artificial Intelligence
If using AI intimidates you, then I recommend a couple of sessions by Mark Thompson and Nicole Elder Dyer. Mark Thompson, cohost of the Family History AI Show podcast, presented an easy-to-use methodology for constructing the instructional prompts necessary to get conversational AI chatbots like ChatGPT to help you with your genealogy. While Mark’s session was not recorded, he does provide a copy of his slides and syllabus (be sure to check out slides #13, 31-32, and 38). Mark has another session, which was also not recorded, that takes you “Beyond the Prompt”.
Perhaps you dreamt of using AI to help you with your DNA analysis — count me in. If so, Nicole Elder Dyer, cohost of the Research Like A Pro podcast, presented an outstanding session demystifying how to do DNA Evidence Analysis with AI without compromising data privacy. Her session was recorded. In another session, Nicole presented AI-Powered Transcription of Handwritten Documents (no video, but her syllabus is provided).
Finally, there’s a great panel session about The Future of AI in Genealogy, which includes David Ouimette (FamilySearch), Steve Little and Mark Thompson (Family History AI Show), Diana Elder (Research Like A Pro), and Dave Vance (FamilyTreeDNA). This session was recorded.
What’s Coming in 2026
Ancestry. Crista Cowan, Corporate Genealogist at Ancestry, announced several new features and hinted to several website layout changes coming in 2026. Continuing with the AI theme, Ancestry has started rolling out to some users a new Record and Document Transcription feature where AI transcribes, summarizes, and provides source citations for some documents and photos uploaded to your Gallery. The same feature incorporates another new tool called AI Stories, which narrates a brief story about the document in a sharable podcast-style file. And, something I’m very excited about…all Revolutionary War pension files on Fold3.com are now fully text searchable! Rabbit hole here I come!
FamilySearch. David Ouimette, Content Strategy Manager at FamilySearch, discussed its Experiments feature, Simple Search, available at FamilySearch Labs. It permits users of its Full-Text Search feature to use natural, every-day language to search for records. For example, you can say, “Find records on William Hill who lived in Tuscarawas County, Ohio from 1820-1836.” It recognizes names, locations, and dates. David also provided a robust presentation on Full-Text Search explaining how it works and how to structure your search query for maximum results. As someone who’s been using this feature since it was announced in 2024, I even learned something new.
GEDmatch. Tom Osypian, Product Manager at GEDmatch, announced a complete redesign of the website and the addition of several new features. Unfortunately, the session was not recorded nor are there slides or a syllabus. However, as someone who has lately pushed GEDmatch to the back burner in favor of other platforms, I see GEDmatch reclaiming their status as a premier genetic analysis tool. A completely redesigned user interface and new features are coming this summer.
Goldie May. Richard K. Miller, founder of Goldie May, demonstrated the tool’s new AI assistant that analyzes ancestors, creates locality guides, searches records, evaluates results, and makes suggestion for future research. Goldie May is a browser extension that acts a research log, project organizer, citation generator, and research assistant.
MyHeritage. Gilad Japhet, CEO at MyHeritage, announced the introduction of Scribe AI, a powerful new feature similar to Ancestry’s transcription feature that uses AI to transcribe, translate, and interpret historical documents and photos. Scribe AI is free for everyone for a limited number of images, but subscribers have extended use.
Other Sessions Worth Checking Out
Scotland. Morag Peers presented a fresh new perspective on Scottish Church Records – Not Just Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals. This session was recorded.
Ireland. We all know the value of Griffith’s Valuation, but Stephanie O’Connell goes beyond the transcribed records we’ve all seen revealing valuable associated Valuation records that are often overlooked: Griffith’s Valuation and Beyond: Land Records in Irish Genealogy (no video, but her slides and syllabus are provided).
DNA. Diahan Southard presents a beginner-friendly, three-part series dubbed, DNA Swim School, taking the intimidation out of DNA analysis: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Inspirational Storytelling
One of the exciting aspects about attending RootsTech in person are the General Sessions where well-known celebrities present their family stories and inspire us to continue our own work. This year was no exception. Here are two of my favorite sessions, which were both recorded.
Marlee Matlin, Academy Award winning actress, shared her inspiring journey of overcoming obstacles, resilience, and courage, connecting personal triumphs to family history. As a deaf actor, Marlee didn’t utter a word in her speech, but her facial expressions, animated signing, and incredible story had me listening with my eyes, heart, and mind.
Tara Roberts, scuba diver, storyteller, and National Geographic explorer, investigated African slave-trade shipwrecks and told her story of self-discovery and family connection. Her gentle, deliberate speech and rhythmic storytelling had me feeling like I was riding the ocean waves alongside her.
Concluding Remarks
If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend RootsTech, I hope you consider going at some point in the future. It is the least intimidating conference I’ve ever attended. The speakers are as entertaining as they are informative. The Exhibition Hall is full of energy and genealogy vendors eager to speak with you. Everyone is there to learn, and making friends is easy. As an added bonus, the actual FamilySearch Library is one block away from the conference where you can find sources not found online.