In this three part series, Zoe Trask sits down with guests to discuss how emerging technology in the field of genealogy promises virtual time travel. They discuss What this means for racial, ethnic, and cultural identity for those who take the trip.
Emerging technology in the field of genealogy promises digital time travel...
Who will want to take the trip?
Written by Maggie Feldbloom
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anna Helshtein, a genealogist in Haifa, Israel, never met her paternal grandmother. Her father didn’t know her much better. He was just 3 weeks old the last time he saw his biological mother. Yet, from the very same room, she now smiles at them both. For a brief moment, through their tears, they can almost imagine she’s still alive.
The animation of Helshtein’s grandmother is the product of a decades-old photograph fed to an ancestry software program powered by artificial intelligence.
“It was, in a way, his first time looking at his mother,” she says. “It was very emotional.”
For families like Helshtein’s, and many others who lost ancestors to the Holocaust, AI offers a chance to learn about departed family members in a powerful, immersive way. Older generations often find it too painful. “It makes them face people that they lost, and it touches a nerve,” Helshtein explains. “But the younger generation actually finds it more exciting and emotional because it enables them to connect.”
Technological advancements opened the door to commercial genealogy for the masses, with the market growing since it first appeared in the early 2000s. Ancestry.com, for example, boasts over $1 billion in revenue and stores records of a whopping 23 million people in its network.
In 2014, Steve McQueen, director of the Oscar-tipped film “12 Years a Slave,” said that the phrase “never forget,” often applied to the Holocaust, must inspire slavery discussions as well.
Though trauma exists differently for both Black and Jewish people, a history of oppression and persecution means users of ancestry technology are more likely to both struggle with and benefit from these advancements, experts say.
Israeli genealogy website “My Heritage,” which allows users to access family trees and search historical records, developed a program that can bring photographs to life through animation. Titled “Deep Story,” the program gained popularity rapidly; within the first 72 hours of its release in February 2021, the website reported over 3 million photos had been uploaded.
Its counterpart “Deep Story” converts photos into video biographies based on information fed to the AI. Other websites such as “Story File” even allow people to record information so family and friends can ask questions to an “AI version” of themselves once they pass on.
With the accessibility of ancestry tracing fueling interest in genetic identity, the technology also raises concerns across historically marginalized groups. Now, as emerging technologies further change the field of genealogy, curious descendants from diverse family trees can interact with their heritage in visceral, immersive formats. But in a country as diverse as America, how close might be too close for some?
Exploring History As Black Americans
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or Black Americans, ancestral information is both traumatic to face and difficult to find.
Because of slavery, familial information for Black Americans has historically been erased, making tracing ancestry an extremely difficult task. A 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center revealed three-quarters of Black American adults rely on speaking to relatives to learn about family history, with only 15% participating in mail-in DNA services. The survey found that six in 10 Black adults say their ancestors were enslaved.
Dr. Janina Jeff, a geneticist and the first African American to earn a doctorate in human genetics at Vanderbilt University, says one of the primary obstacles in providing accurate genetic representation – especially for Black people – is the existing genetic database.
“If there's no one in the library that represents you, you're going to be matched to the next best thing,” she explains. “The next best thing is not a real representation. It means that the results are constantly changing.”
In those difficult cases, Jeff says, they will draw a conclusion about the general region of someone’s roots. Due to a lack of existing representation, someone may be told they are from West Africa instead of a specific region or country.
A 2019 study by the journal “New Genetics and Society” shows Americans with the most interest in genetic ancestry testing self-identified as white and Black. Dr. Donald E. Grant Jr. leans on centuries of history to explain the current popularity of ancestry searches for these groups. He notes that the era of European colonization in particular was crucial in setting the tone for cultural identity today.
Grant is the executive director and founder of a diversity solutions company “Mindful Training Solutions.” Though he was once a practicing clinical psychologist, he pivoted to investigating trauma caused by systems instead of individuals. Now, he is a master of sociocultural analysis as it intersects with race.
Grant explains that European immigrants were not historically incentivized to identify their individual cultural ethnic backgrounds. “Irish immigrants, Polish immigrants, Greek immigrants - they weren't white when they arrived on this land, for the most part,” says Grant.
“We have to remember that white people were compelled to throw away their culture in order to become white. As they began to open up the aperture, they [became] more interested in learning about wherever they come from on the continent of Europe.”
On the contrary, he adds, Black people have “always been thirsty” to know their roots.
“When you have trauma in your DNA, there's always a yearning to resolve that,” he says. “We’ve always been interested in knowing those things. We just always haven't had the tools to do it.
“Slavery stripped away any documentation of our ancestors,” Jeff says. “European descendants know their last names, they know a lot about their migration to America. We don't know anything. That was intentional.”
While these developments can help to provide some answers for those with limited genetic history, it comes at a cost.
The potential psychological impact of facing programs like “Deep Story” and “Deep Nostalgia” for families with a history of trauma raise concerns from professionals.
“When you have a whole history that always starts with your bondage, it certainly creates a cloud over your existence,” explains Grant. “We can't continue to define our entire existence grounded and starting at our enslavement.”
On the other hand, Jeff says that accessing her genetic composition provided a sense of connection.
“It's beautiful to now know that my genes [are] highly representative of someone from Ghana or Nigeria,” she adds. “That’s a beautiful thing.”
The Promise for Education
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n Israel, Helshtein says the primarily Jewish population often face a complicated relationship with their roots. A significant portion of the older generation shuts out the horrors of the Holocaust, avoiding the trauma too close to revisit.
The people yearning for stories of their Jewish heritage are the younger generations, looking to explore their family history and keen to connect with their cultural identity. It is this draw to self-understanding, Helshtein says, that is key to the success of AI ancestry programs.
“The more open people are, the more emotional they get when they engage in Deep Story and Deep Nostalgia and animating their ancestors,” she says.
Grant concurs that using these tools as educational pillars can help the younger generation learn about historical events, calling experiential learning particularly “valuable.” He recalls the 2016 United Nations documentary project, “Clouds Over Sidra,” that allowed people to use virtual reality headsets to walk through the Za'atari refugee camp in Syria.
“Some people apparently reported that it was helping them advance discussions as it related to the refugee camps,” Grant says. “This is not the same; however, research shows us that experiential learning is huge and one of the best ways that people can learn.”
Emotional appeal wields substantial influence on learning and memory. A study published in the National Library of Medicine found emotion enhances comprehension in the classroom, a crucial element in the design of virtual learning.
“A lot of people don't do science because they find it boring,” says Jeff. “Maybe this technology will open doors to make science more appealing and more entertaining.”
The key to the educational success of this type of technology lies in the hands of those who make it, Jeff and Grant agree. AI is programmed to perform by ingesting data and then using a set of instructions, which includes the animation and storytelling of ancestors on ancestry websites. The educational information taught to students would rely entirely on who is controlling the algorithm, which could be detrimental, Grant says.
“My fear is that this technology could be weaponized against Black people,” he says. “AI is only as good as the information it's able to pull in about a particular topic. And if we know that the information that the AI will be pulling in is already colonized, it'll be difficult to see the integrity or the value in that.”
“We have racially charged groups who are going to recreate events that are not going to be positive and educational,” says Dr. Jeff. “[That] can be very harmful and traumatic.”
According to Grant, AI could present a new form of historical erasure if created and moderated by the wrong hands. He already sees that those with the power to control education, even without AI, are causing problems.
In July 2023, Florida's Board of Education approved new African American history curriculum standards that will teach students “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” This is one part of a larger conservative movement to ban teaching critical race theory in American schools. The move provoked significant backlash, with Vice President Kamala Harris saying the state wants "to replace history with lies.”
Angela Ambeau, a surgical tech in California, hopped on the at-home DNA test trend when a group of her coworkers decided to look further into their ethnic backgrounds. As a first-generation American who is half-Latina and half-Indian, Ambeau had hopes of potentially contacting relatives from either parent’s side.
Ambeau’s father, an “abusive alcoholic,” had caused her parents to separate when she was about 1 year old. Growing up without either one in her life, she had accumulated interest in her roots over the years. She was also curious about her genetic health history, concerned specifically about what she may have inherited from her father.
“I know that before my father had me, he had a son and a daughter. So it was kind of like a long stretch, but maybe like if I was hoping to get in contact with that side of my family,” says Ambeau.
She filled three plastic vials with her saliva, sealed them up and mailed them off. She would have to wait three weeks to see what genetic information it held.
When it comes to entrusting Florida schools with the power to use AI as an educational tool, Ambeau says they are responsible for plenty of misinformation already.
“It’s a corrupt school system and they're putting out wrong [historical] facts,” says Ambeau. “They've been masking the truths of things…all the time. So why wouldn't they control the AI experience as well?”
But that’s where Ambeau draws the line. She says she personally would never engage with technology that animates lost family members.
“That’s kind of creepy,” she says. “If you want to put on the clothing, learn how to dance or learn the song, do it old school. Go visit the place, go visit the region, go learn from the people who are around.”
After all was said and done, Ambeau says, she finished the process feeling as though it was a “waste of time.” Her doctor could have provided her with the same health information, minus the hassle.
“One of my six cousins contacted me. It's crazy because she's Indian and she lives probably two hours away from me and wants to meet,” she says. “But if I really wanted to do any research, how much can [she] help me?”
Passing The Torch
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hen it comes to the future of ancestry technology, Jeff says she is “cautiously optimistic” about its potential to advance the field of genealogy.
“We're going from a place where we had no connection with our ancestors and we're now using technology to make sure our stories never go untold,” she says. “And I think that's a beautiful thing.”
Those untold stories are exactly why Helshtein is so passionate about animated ancestry technology. She sees too many stories vanish out from under the generation that needs them the most.
“Some of the [older generation] even hide old photos,” Helshtein says. “And I had [clients] finding photos only after their parents passed away. That leaves them upset because now they have no idea who's in it, something that they could have asked their parents if they were willing to talk about it.”
Helshtein is determined to hold onto the memory of her own family members. During renovations at her aunt’s house, she stumbled upon her late grandmother’s cookbook. In it, Helshtein found her recipe for pickles – a comfort she had been yearning for over the last 20 years without her.
“I sent it to the whole family and people went wild,” she says. “It was exciting and emotional. And that's what genealogy is all about.”
While she is certain of the potential promise and possibilities of ancestry technology, Jeff still pictures a world where a “brilliant Black person” creates their own version of the technology.
“Can you imagine the type of insight, the type of things that we would learn from those conversations?” Jeff asks. “I hope that happens.”
For Grant, he believes this concept holds the potential to be “very empowering,” especially when it comes to young Black people who have limited access to heritage exploration.
“We know that throughout history, little white boys and little white girls in school have always gotten messages and images of how they have created and curated and discovered so many different things,” he explains. “So we already know that there's a strong correlation to being able to connect your history to something of value.”
What will be most empowering, says Grant, are the stories at people’s fingertips that they would never have learned without technology – stories that can now be passed down to their children and grandchildren in the future.
Says Grant:
“The majority of people will find value in the exploration of their ancestry.”
