Using AI for the first time
I have been working on a DNA project for a friend to find her biological father. I am getting closer but this one is a doozy. I decided to pay for a few months of AncestryDNA Pro tools to see if they would help me with the DNA matches. It did give reveal some things but I am still searching.
AncestryDNA Pro Tools also has a tree checker so I figured if I paid for it I should use it. So I started checking my Mom's tree, my Dad's tree and my husband's tree.
While working on my husband's Telesca tree I started looking for and adding sources to his ancestors. (SQUIRREL!)
I found a death certificate for Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk who died in 1942 in Berlin, Germany.
He is a brother to my husband's Great Grandmother Martha Burk Ahlendorf.
The problem was it was all in German and I don't speak or read German.
I have been listening to podcasts about using AI for genealogy but just haven't had time to really try it. So I decided to give it a try with ChatGPT.
I know AI can sometimes hallucinate so you have to make sure you check everything carefully.
I uploaded the document and gave it a prompt. It quickly gave me a translation to English. But, after looking through it I realized it missed a line and got the maiden names of the women wrong.
I could have given it more prompts to correct the mistakes but I used a translator site to decipher a few words and corrected the maiden names.
Below is the transcription with my corrections.
PROMPT
You are an expert genealogist who can translate German to English. Translate this German Death record exactly from German language to English language.
CORRECTED AI TRANSLATION
No. 400
Berlin - Pankow ................ on 26 March 1942.
The pensioner Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk,
Protestant, residing in Berlin - Pankow, Amalienpark 4, born on 19 July 1860 in
Apolda in Thuringia, died on 25 March 1942 at 11:50 PM in Berlin - Pankow,
Amalienpark 4.
The deceased was the son of the master weaver Georg Burk,
deceased in America, last place of residence unknown, and Johanna Burk, née Hanf,
also deceased, last residing in Blankenhain in Thuringia.
The deceased was
widowed. His wife was Anna Karoline Burk, née Heidelmann, who died and most
recently lived in Berlin-Pankow.
The informant is the daughter, bank notary's assistant Emma
Burk, residing in Berlin-Pankow, Amalienpark 4. The informant is known
personally, and she has been informed about the death from her own knowledge.
The above statement was made on her own knowledge.
The 1st word and 1st digit have been corrected in the text.
Read aloud, approved, and signed.
[signed] Emma Burk
The registrar
[signed] [illegible]
In representation: [illegible]
Cause of death: Stomach cancer, cachexia.
The marriage of the deceased took place on 15 May 1887 in
Niederroßla
(Registry Office NiderroBla in Thurigen No. 6)
The entry was issued on 26 March 1942.
I then asked it to give me a summary. I realized it still had the maiden names wrong so I asked it to correct the names and gave it the correct names.
AI SUMMARY
- Deceased:
Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk
- Date
of Death: March 25, 1942, at 11:50 PM
- Place
of Death: Berlin-Pankow, Amalienpark 4
- Date
of Birth: July 19, 1860, in Apolda, Thuringia
- Parents:
- Father:
Georg Burk, a master weaver, deceased in America (last residence unknown)
- Mother:
Johanna Burk, also deceased (last residence in Berlin-Pankow)
- Cause
of Death: Stomach cancer and cachexia
- Marital
Status: Widower
- Wife:
Anna Karoline Burk, née Heidelmann, deceased in Berlin-Pankow
- Married
on May 15, 1887, in Niederroßla
- Informant:
Daughter, Emma Burk (bank notary's assistant), residing in Berlin-Pankow,
Amalienpark 4.
