Gemini's AI Video for Genealogy: My First Ancestor Video Experiments (The Good, the Bad, and the Hilarious)

Testing Gemini's new Omni AI video generation to create historical ancestor videos for genealogy

Artificial intelligence continues to evolve at an incredible pace, and naturally, I couldn't resist testing another new feature.
After experimenting with Google's new Lyria 3 and Lyria 3 Pro music generation tools, I decided to see what Gemini could do with AI-generated video. Could it create realistic scenes from an ancestor's life? Could multiple short clips be combined into a believable historical story?
As usual, I turned to my "official AI test ancestor," Samuel Steinman.
For the past few years, Samuel has been my consistent benchmark for testing new AI genealogy tools. Using the same ancestor across different AI platforms allows me to compare results more fairly over time.
This time, however, I wasn't asking AI to write about Samuel.​
I wanted it to bring him to life.

Experiment #1: No Prompt at All

For my first test, I decided to do almost nothing.
I uploaded only the AI-generated character portrait I had previously created of Samuel (in ChatGPT a little over a year ago)—no prompt, no instructions, no historical context.
Gemini automatically generated a short 10-second video.
To my surprise, it didn't simply animate the portrait. It also created an entire scene, complete with sound effects, dialogue, and a setting inspired by the background in the image. Because Samuel's character portrait happened to include a farm auction sign in the background, Gemini built an entirely new scene around that setting.
While the story it created wasn't historically relevant to Samuel's actual life, it was very interesting to watch. The video felt surprisingly cinematic considering I hadn't given the AI any direction whatsoever.
It was a pretty impressive demonstration of Gemini's creativity, but not necessarily of historical storytelling.

​Experiment #2: Directing "A Day in the Life of Samuel Steinman"

Next, I wanted to see whether Gemini could create something much more meaningful for genealogy.
Rather than letting AI invent its own story, I wanted to direct one myself.
The idea was simple:

• Use the same Samuel character image for every scene.
• Create a detailed character description in ChatGPT so Gemini would maintain the same appearance throughout.
• Write individual prompts in ChatGPT for each 10-second scene.
• Stitch all of the clips together into a short film showing a day in Samuel's life as a late-19th-century butcher.

The first scene was incredibly promising.
Samuel looked exactly like the character portrait I'd been using for a little over a year. The historical atmosphere was beautiful, the lighting felt cinematic, and watching him walk through town toward his butcher shop was genuinely impressive.
At that point, I was thinking...
"This might actually work."

Then the AI Gremlins Arrived

The second scene started well enough.
Samuel unlocked the door to his butcher shop, reached up to remove his hat...
...and then immediately put it back on.
Without explanation.
Without reason.
Apparently, he changed his mind.
The third scene introduced an even more entertaining challenge.
As Samuel prepared for the day, he began sharpening his butcher knives.
Except the knives couldn't decide how many of themselves existed.
One knife somehow became two.
Then three.
A cleaver suddenly appeared.
Another knife seemed to duplicate itself.
At one point, Samuel briefly wandered away from the butcher block before instantly returning as though nothing had happened.
It reminded me a lot of the early days of AI image generation, when people mysteriously had six fingers or extra limbs.
Instead of extra fingers...
Samuel had extra knives.

​What I Learned

Despite the amusing glitches, I actually came away fairly encouraged.
Gemini did an excellent job maintaining Samuel's overall appearance from scene to scene. His facial features, clothing style, and the historical setting remained surprisingly consistent.
Where the AI struggled was with object permanence and complex actions.
Simple scenes, like walking, looking around, entering a building, etc., worked really well.
Scenes involving multiple objects, hand movements, or several sequential actions were much less reliable. Hats developed minds of their own, knives multiplied, and continuity occasionally wandered off in unexpected directions.
In other words, AI video today feels very much like AI image generation did a couple of years ago.
The potential is obvious.
The technology simply isn't quite there yet, at least maybe not for Omni.

​Will I Keep Testing It?

Absolutely.
This first experiment wasn't about creating a polished historical film.
It was about discovering what today's AI video tools can, and can't, do for genealogy.
As these models improve, I plan to continue using Samuel Steinman as my benchmark ancestor. Running the same prompts over time should provide an interesting look at how rapidly AI video evolves and whether it eventually becomes practical for creating historically inspired ancestor stories.
For now, though...
I'll probably keep a close eye on Samuel's hat.
And count the knives.

A Note on Responsible AI Use

As with all of my AI experiments, these videos are creative interpretations, not historical evidence. While AI can help visualize an ancestor's world, it should never replace documented research or be presented as an accurate reconstruction of events.
If you choose to create AI-generated ancestor videos, consider clearly disclosing that they are artistic interpretations based on historical research. The genealogy, records, source analysis, and conclusions should always come from documented evidence, not the AI itself.

​Have you experimented with AI video yet? If so, I'd love to hear which tool you used and how your results compared. Did your ancestor behave perfectly...or did hats and household objects suddenly develop a mind of their own, too?

More AI and Genealogy Resources

Learn about more family history and genealogy resources under the AI in Genealogy and  Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page.