They’re back! Been two years in a row now since the pandemic, and thousands have gathered once again in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the annual Rootstech conference brought to us by FamilySearch. And there’s an emerging interest on their mind— Artificial Intelligence, or “AI” for short. And for family history buffs, it’s a big consideration. AI—what do you think about that?

Uh, I'm, uh. Just watching it. I'm super excited about AI helping us out. Cautiously optimistic. That's the best new thing that we have. It's kind of a best of both worlds. I think that if it's something that can help us and help someone who may not have resources otherwise to find their family, I think it's great. You know. Not so long ago, flyover like this, high above Rootstech was unthinkable unless you had a helicopter handy and no roof overhead. Now enter the drone.

Kind of a breakthrough, right? Well, technology advances are like that. And this year RootsTech is no different. AI is making a huge impact. And suddenly you're seeing things with a whole new perspective. I think it's going to be everywhere. We're going to see that artificial intelligence come in and help us find the really hard questions or the really— the records that were destroyed or really hard to read. It's kind of like a Hot Wheels track where people are doing this 362 days a year, and then they hit us and they get—they get a boost again. I'm just as curious as everyone else. That’s why we bring people to RootsTech is to let all of these wonderful genealogists, technologists, the amateurs, the professionals, the curious just to come and share and collaborate. When you really think about it. FamilySearch is outreach and the RootsTech conference, it basically wants everyone to know two things: where you’re from and who you came from. Put those two things together and you often arrive at one conclusion: you belong here,

RootsTech and that great big world out there. The spirit of just accepting people as people and caring for people no matter who they are, it just is amazing. Consider the mission and power of Lynn Jackson's message. Miss Jackson is the great great granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott, who sought their freedom as slaves in America before the Civil War, and among the first to inspire all that has continued ever since.

Once you get to know somebody, a lot of times all that preconceived notion stuff has to go away because it wasn't true. And now you see somebody in a different light, a different perspective. You see the real them, you see some some value in them, and you can build a relationship. And those relationships are what makes people able to live and work and love together.

African American genealogy is a fast growing field of research that relies on the oral histories of the continent. With new initiatives from FamilySearch and the written records we have, both from before and after the Emancipation Proclamation, we’re not only trying to preserve history by collecting these oral genealogies, which includes both living and deceased memory,

we're trying to also help preserve culture, language, and help people know exactly how they fit in their family. It’s something we cannot longer run away from.

We should pursue it very passionately in order to, you know, make sure that no family is cut off. Everyone gets connected to their roots. Family history is, we believe, a source of joy, inspiration, education, empowerment, and can also be a source of healing and repair. And the 10 Million Names Project is dedicated to that power and promise of family history. We tell you there's something for everyone, but you probably figured that out already. But did you guess live dance bands too? The young single adults did. Now that's an after party.

Broadway star, singer, and film actress Kristin Chenoweth would approve.

She brought her entertainment A-game to RootsTech and her own special brand of family connection. I have two families, and both of them—the biological family and the family that raised me—made me who I am. We’re all connected. We're really all brother and sister. We really are. College and NBA basketball star Jimmer Fredette.

He came by too for Family Discovery Day. Show the kids how it’s done. It's fun to be able to be out here and shoot with the kids. I mean, that's what it's all about for me. So here it was.

Family Discovery Day is really the grand finale of the whole three-day experience at Rootstech, and this year, a first—the memories and stories that define the life of M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Ballard passed away November 12, 2023, at age 95.

I think it's very important for people to seek out and know what they can about those who laid the groundwork for them to have what they have in their lives.

It's a wonderful thing to know about your forefathers,

many of which paid a big price for our personal existence in this world.

I hope when I die, there'll be a few over there that'll say thank you

for maybe a little good I did on the way.

That's what I'm trying to do, is just to help where I can.