It had to happen. Artificial intelligence (AI) — the technology used to create robotic pets and computer chess opponents — has come to genealogy by way of GenSmarts <www.gensmarts.com>, a new software application from Underwood Innovations. Using AI, GenSmarts analyzes the data in your standard genealogy program and then creates — in seconds — a list of research recommendations. It's like having your own virtual research assistant.

The easiest way to explain GenSmarts' functionality is to show how it thinks. If the program sees that you have an ancestor who was born in 1841, married in 1858 and died in 1919, it will suggest that you search marriage, Civil War and federal census records. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But the smarty-pants software also explains why you should search those records, and then tells you where to find them, both online and off.

Available as a free trial download, GenSmarts has a built-in Welcome Wizard to guide you through installation. If you use Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, The Master Genealogist, Personal Ancestral File 5.0 or RootsMagic, GenSmarts automatically will work with the last file opened. If you use another genealogy program, you'll need to export a GEDCOM (the universal family tree file format) from your software, and then import it into GenSmarts.