Introducing Scribe AI: Transcribe, Interpret, and Receive Fascinating Insights About Your Family’s Historical Documents and Photos, and MyHeritage Records

We’re excited to introduce Scribe AI, a powerful new feature on MyHeritage that transcribes, translates, and interprets historical family documents and photos. Simply upload an image file of a scanned handwritten letter, an old photograph, a gravestone, or a coat of arms, and Scribe AI will generate a clear transcription, translate it into your language if necessary, explain symbols and context, and suggest next steps for your research.

Caution is advised! This feature is highly addictive and genealogists we’ve given early access to this feature have become hooked, and can’t stop uploading more and more items for analysis! It would be fair to say that Scribe AI is one of the most important genealogical features we’ve added to MyHeritage in the past few years.

Watch the video below to see what Scribe AI can reveal:

If you’ve ever struggled to read an old family document, you’re not alone. Perhaps you’ve found yourself squinting at faded handwriting, trying to decipher unfamiliar script, or puzzling over a record written in a language you don’t speak. Maybe you’ve shared an image in a genealogy Facebook group or sent it around in a family chat asking, “Can anyone read this?”

Old family documents and photos often contain valuable information, but extracting that information can be frustrating and time-consuming. Scribe AI removes these barriers and does the work for you. Instead of guessing, crowdsourcing, or hiring an expert, you can get detailed answers quickly.

Scribe AI is currently available on the MyHeritage website and can be accessed through the browser on your computer or mobile device. Support for the MyHeritage mobile app will be added soon.

Try Scribe AI now

How Scribe AI works

The name Scribe in this feature is actually an acronym, SCRIBE, that stands for Scientific Record Indexing Base Engine. Scribe AI is powered by artificial intelligence models trained to read handwriting and printed text in many languages and understand visual patterns and historical cues commonly found in family history materials. It adds vast historical knowledge to produce results that go far beyond a simple transcription. Think of it as your personal AI historian: deeply knowledgeable, fluent in many languages, and available to provide an expert consultation whenever you need one.

Once you upload an image to Scribe AI, or use it to process one of the images you already have on MyHeritage, it first reviews the image to classify it and understand its contents. Then, it applies a different, dedicated analysis procedure to each type of material. For example, documents and photographs are handled differently.

If it’s a document, Scribe AI transcribes the text, whether handwritten or printed, and if it detects that the language is different from yours, it provides a translation. It analyzes the textual and visual information and extracts key genealogical details such as names, dates, and places, and provides background information about the type of document you’ve uploaded. If you upload a multi-page letter or record as a single PDF file, Scribe AI analyzes the entire document as one contextual unit. This is much better than analyzing each page separately, because that would have lost the overall context.

When analyzing a photograph, Scribe AI examines visual clues such as clothing, hairstyles, objects, architecture, and photographic techniques to estimate when and where the photo was taken. It will also describe the scene, identify notable elements, and provide historical context.

For gravestones, Scribe AI transcribes inscriptions and interprets traditional symbols carved into the stone. For coats of arms, it provides a formal heraldic description, explains the meaning of symbols and colors, and assesses whether the design follows historical heraldic conventions.

The result is a structured, detailed analysis designed to help you understand not only what you’re looking at, but also what that document or image means in the context of the time of its creation.

What you see in your results

Scribe AI presents its findings in organized sections, making it easy to review and understand every part of the analysis. Depending on the type of item you upload, your results may include the following elements:

Documents

• Historical context: Background on the document and its historical significance
• Extracted details: Structured information such as names, dates, places, and relationships
• Suggested next steps: Guidance on where to continue your research
• Key findings: A summary of the information discovered in the document
• Full text transcription: A complete transcription of all handwritten or printed text
• Translation: A translation into your language, if the document is written in another language

Historical photos

• Key findings: A summary of the scene, subjects, and composition
• Historical background: A summary explaining how the scene relates to the historical period
• Estimated date: Estimated time period when the photo was taken
• Estimated location: Estimated location where the photo was taken
• Visual clues: Specific elements identified in the image that support the analysis
• Technical details: Information about the photographic medium and condition

Gravestones

• Inscription highlights: Key names and dates extracted from the gravestone
• Iconography & symbolism: Explanations of traditional motifs and carved symbols
• Monument details: Assessment of the stone type, material quality, and condition of the stone
• Location context: Predicted cemetery type or region based on stone style and local flora
• Research suggestions: Potential records or family connections to explore next
• Inscription: Verbatim transcription of the text on the stone
• Translation: Translation of the inscription into your language

Coats of arms

• Origins & lineage: Predicted region of origin and notes on associated surnames
• Heraldic description: Technical description of the crest using formal heraldic terminology
• Design breakdown: Description of the shield and crest elements and translation of the motto
• Meaning of symbols: Explanation of the traditional heraldic meanings of the specific animals, colors, and objects
• Visual overview: A summary of the image composition, artistic medium, and condition
• Authenticity check: An evaluation of whether the design follows historical heraldic conventions

How to access and use Scribe AI on your materials

If you are new to MyHeritage or would like to upload a new image for analysis, you can access Scribe AI by visiting myheritage.com/scribe-ai:

Click “Upload image” and select an image file, or drag and drop your image file onto the page.

If you are new to MyHeritage, you’ll be prompted to sign up for a free account. If you have a MyHeritage account but are not logged in, you’ll need to log in at this point.

The analysis will be ready in a minute or less, depending on the complexity of your upload.

Scribe AI analysis of a historical photo from the early 1940s (click to zoom)

The results are displayed in sections on the right panel, such as “Key findings” and “Full text transcription.” Click on any of the sections to the right to expand them.

You can also run Scribe AI on any image you have already uploaded to MyHeritage. Visit the photo page, and you’ll notice a new panel with the Scribe AI logo in the right-hand sidebar. Click “View insights” in this panel.

How to access and use Scribe AI on MyHeritage records

Scribe AI has been added to MyHeritage’s vast database of nearly 40 billion historical records!

Whenever you view the image of a historical record on MyHeritage’s historical record database, if it’s eligible for a Scribe AI analysis, a Scribe AI section appears:

Clicking “View insights” will take you to the analysis page for that image.

Notes

Scribe AI can be used to analyze records that have images, except for some collections that have been excluded due to privacy considerations.

Newspaper collections are not supported yet by Scribe AI yet, as the images are hosted on OldNews.com, but we intend to add Scribe to OldNews.com in a future update. There is a temporary workaround you can use in the meantime: if there is a newspaper clipping from OldNews.com  that you would like to receive insights about, download it to your computer and then upload it directly to Scribe AI.

We also intend to add Scribe AI to Record Matches in the near future, so that anytime you receive a match to a historical record, you can get insights about it from Scribe AI.

Examples

U.S. naturalization certificate, 1913

Below are the Scribe AI results for the U.S. naturalization certificate of Sam Pass, issued March 3, 1913.

Scribe AI results for the naturalization certificate of Sam Pass (click to zoom)

The “Historical context” section provides a description of the document and its historical background. It points out that when Sam became a U.S. citizen in 1913, he was separated from his wife and children, who were still residing in his place of origin and likely joined him later — mentioning that this was a common phenomenon at the time, known as “chain migration.”

Clicking “Copy full text to clipboard” makes it easy to copy this text and paste it elsewhere; for example, to a note in the family tree associated with this individual on MyHeritage.

In the “Details mentioned” section, Scribe AI extracts the many details mentioned in the certificate: the protagonist’s name, age, birthplace, current residence, physical description, and date of admittance as a citizen of the U.S., as well as the names, ages, and residences of his wife and children. It even transcribes the scrawled signature of the court clerk:

Scribe AI: Details mentioned (click to zoom)

The “Key findings” section provides a helpful overview:

Scribe AI: Key findings (click to zoom)

The “Suggested next steps” section lists potential directions for further research, including locating the petition for naturalization, searching passenger lists, pinpointing the arrival of Sam’s wife and children, and exploring records in Sam’s place of origin.

Scribe AI: Suggested next steps (click to zoom)

Despite the multiple fonts and significant signs of wear, Scribe AI accurately captures the full text of the certificate:

Scribe AI: Full text transcription (click to zoom)

French death record, 1922

Below is the death record of famous French writer Marcel Proust, as it appears in MyHeritage’s France, Church Burials and Civil Deaths collection:

The indexed information includes his name and the date and place of his death.

When analyzed by Scribe AI, however, the record yields a great deal more information.

Scribe AI analysis of Proust’s death record (click to zoom)

Though the record merely identifies Proust as a “Man of Letters,” Scribe AI adds the historical context that he was a famous writer. Aside from providing a full transcription and translation of the text, it also extracts a wealth of details that didn’t appear in the MyHeritage database index, including:

• Proust’s date of birth
• His status as a Knight of the Legion of Honor
• His marital status as a bachelor
• The names of his parents, Adrien Proust and Jeanne Clemence Weil, and the fact that they were deceased
• The names, ages, occupations, and residences of three additional associated individuals: two informants, and the official who recorded the event
• The registration date of the record of Proust’s death: November 20, 1922, two days after his death

Under “Historical context,” Scribe AI elaborates beyond the details mentioned in the record, including reference to one of his well-known works In Search of Lost Time, and the occupation of his father, who was a prominent epidemiologist.

German school records, 1897–1908

Below is an interesting example of Scribe AI’s analysis of a 5-page PDF file, containing several school records of a certain individual from late 19th century Germany:

Scribe AI analysis of German school records: Historical context (click to zoom)

Scribe AI analyzes the 5 pages as a contextual unit, identifying this document as a Zeugnisbuch (report card book) and Abgangs-Zeugnis (leave certificate) for a girl named Flora Birnbaum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Aside from the full transcription in the original German and a translation to English, it extracts key details, including information on the student, her education, and the excellent grades she obtained, as well as other individuals mentioned in the document, such as her teacher and mother. Under “Historical context,” Scribe AI provides fascinating information about the document, including the background and educational approach of the specific school she attended.

Note the interesting observation that the mother’s consistent signature on the lines reserved for the father indicates that he may have been deceased or absent.

Handwritten letter, 1946

Below are the Scribe AI results for the first page of a letter mentioned in the story of the Stevens brothers that we shared in June 2024 — a letter that sparked an extraordinary transatlantic intergenerational friendship:

Scribe AI analysis of a personal letter: Historical context (click to zoom)

Scribe AI identifies this as a “handwritten personal letter dated May 23, 1946, sent by a grieving mother in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania, to the Postmaster of St. Laurent-Sur-Mer, France.” It notes that “there is a small annotation in French reading ‘a presenter au cimetiere’ (to present at the cemetery), which suggests the French postmaster received the letter and forwarded it to the cemetery’s superintendent or caretaker.” Ultimately, the postman himself opened the letter and responded to Mrs. Stevens with a photo of her son’s grave. Scribe AI also provides a full, accurate transcription of the handwritten text, and a structured list of details mentioned.

Family portrait, circa 1897

Below is a Scribe AI analysis of a family portrait known to have been taken circa 1897 in Brooklyn, New York:

Scribe AI analysis of a family portrait: Estimated date and location (click to zoom)

Under “Visual clues,” Scribe AI goes into detail analyzing the fashions worn in the photo and the hairstyles of its subjects, down to the frizzled bangs on the girls and the “Little Lord Fauntleroy” style jackets on the boys. It even identifies the presence of a wicker chair partially visible on the right, and mentions that the decorative embossed corners of the mount on which the photo is placed is a style that became popular in the 1890s, when this photo is known to have been taken.

WWII home front family photo, circa 1943

Below are the Scribe AI results for a photo of a brother and sister standing outside their home before the brother was deployed to fight in World War II.

Scribe AI: Historical background of a WWII era photo (click to zoom)

Scribe AI perfectly understands the moment captured in this photo. Under “Historical background,” it describes the image as a “classic ‘Home Front’ moment during World War II,” saying that the young man “is likely a soldier home on leave before deployment overseas.” It notes that he has no rank insignia and is therefore early in his service, and encourages the user to focus on U.S. Army service records for further research.

Scribe AI also correctly identifies the location: the Northeast or Midwest United States, “e.g. Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Illinois,” based on the architectural style and the narrow spacing between the houses. Indeed, the photo was taken in Columbus, Ohio.

Military gravestone, 1805

Below are the Scribe AI results for the grave of Captain Thomas Norman, killed in the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805.

Scribe AI results for the gravestone of Captain Thomas Norman (click to zoom)

Though the inscription doesn’t mention the location of the headstone, Scribe AI infers that it’s in Gibraltar based on the historical context. It provides a fascinating breakdown of the icons and symbols on the monument, and translates the Latin epitaph on the gravestone:

Scribe AI: Iconography & symbolism (click to zoom)

From hackathon idea to full feature

Scribe AI began as a hackathon project at MyHeritage in June 2025. Our hackathons are intense events that encourage innovation, arranged as a full-day competition among spontaneously formed cross-departmental teams across the company. Scribe AI was the brainchild of one cross-departmental team — Oren Churi, Nitay Elboym, Sapir Suissa, Vitali Oneg, Erica Edvi, Natan Kariti, Ofir Sharony, Roy Gavrielov, and Tal Erlichman — who came together from Marketing, Product, and R&D to explore how advances in AI could be applied to one of genealogy’s most persistent challenges: understanding historical documents and images.

The hackathon team working on the project

In a typical MyHeritage hackathon, up to 20 fresh ideas are conceived, implemented as a prototype, and demonstrated. Then there is the voting phase, and the hackathon ends with prizes and glory to the winners! But our employees’ biggest reward, beyond the satisfaction in developing cool new features and receiving recognition at the hackathon event, is when a successful hackathon project is handpicked for complete implementation under the MyHeritage product roadmap. That way, it benefits the entire genealogical community and impacts the lives of many users. This was the case for Scribe AI!

After the hackathon, Senior Product Manager Alon Ehrenfeld led the development that transformed the prototype into a fully integrated feature. Our AI concept manager, Golan Levi, came up with many aspects of the insights extracted by Scribe AI. Finally, MyHeritage founder and CEO Gilad Japhet also contributed by naming the Scribe AI feature and suggesting its logo, as well as defining some of its aspects such as multi-page handling, photograph analysis, newspaper analysis (coming soon) and integration into Record Matches (coming soon).

FAQs about Scribe AI

What file types are supported by Scribe AI?

Scribe AI supports jpg, png and pdf files. For multi-page PDFs, there is a processing limit of about 15 pages, though this may vary depending on the file size and the complexity of the content.

Where can I find Scribe AI reports for images I have already uploaded?

Photos you upload to Scribe AI will be stored in your family site for easy access later, inside an album named “Scribe AI”. Access your Scribe AI reports at any time through the “My Photos” section of the website. Visit the album named “Scribe AI,” and click on any photo that was analyzed by Scribe AI to open it. On the photo page, click the “AI Insights” button to view the full report.

What languages does Scribe AI support?

All languages supported on the MyHeritage website are also supported in terms of processing documents uploaded to Scribe AI, but the quality and accuracy of the transcription and insights may vary depending on the quality of the document, how readable it is, the language and the script. The output will be in the user interface’s language, regardless of the language of the document. If the document is in another language, Scribe AI will provide a translation to the current language of the user interface.

What about my privacy?

MyHeritage is committed to protecting your privacy. The documents and photos you upload to the Scribe AI feature are processed by our AI solely for the purpose of generating your results and are not shared with third parties for training AI models or any other use. They are not indexed by MyHeritage’s search engine and are not made searchable by other users. You retain full ownership of your uploaded content.

Cost

Anyone can use Scribe AI for free on a limited number of images. Further use requires a Complete or Omni subscription. Existing Complete and Omni subscribers of MyHeritage are in luck, as they can use this feature without limits and at no extra cost.

Sharing is caring

Once you’ve received your Scribe AI results, you can easily share them with relatives, friends, and fellow researchers. Click the share buttons below the analysis (highlighted in red below) to share via WhatsApp, Facebook, or X, or get a link you can share wherever you wish.

Sharing your Scribe AI results (click to zoom)

When others open the link, they can explore and enjoy your results — and then try Scribe AI themselves to gain insight into their own documents and photos.

You can also always copy-paste the text of individual sections using the “Copy to clipboard” button that appears at the bottom of each.

Privacy

Scribe AI is intended for historical materials and requires consent, and users are prohibited from uploading offensive materials or content about living people without their permission.

Summary

Scribe AI is a powerful feature that sheds light on historical documents, photos, and records that might be difficult to read or interpret. It empowers you to uncover the significance and stories hidden within the artifacts that carry your family’s history. Its results can be mind-blowing.

We encourage you to give Scribe AI a go. Upload a document or photo that has long puzzled you — a handwritten letter you could never fully decipher, a photo that your family considers iconic that shows a unique scene, or a gravestone with unfamiliar symbols — and see what Scribe AI reveals. You may discover details you hadn’t noticed before, new clues to follow, or fresh insights that move your research forward. We must warn you again, though: it’s highly addictive! 😊

Scribe AI reflects MyHeritage’s ongoing commitment to applying AI technology in meaningful and responsible ways that improve family history research. It enhances the experience of discovery, helping you understand your documents and photos more clearly than ever before.

We’re excited to hear about the discoveries you make with Scribe AI. Enjoy!

Try Scribe AI now