iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Personal agents are popping-up everywhere, and they are an order of magnitude more capable than your grandmother's chatbot. 😉

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"Yes, of course." That's what Meta's new Muse agent said when I asked whether the family-tree file it preferred, with living people's dates, would be used as training data under Meta's terms. So we used the anonymized file: four generations in ten seconds. How-to in the reply. #genealogy

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Concerning the “AI will kill us all” headlines breaking into the mainstream media: BE NOT AFRAID. The best way out is straight through; let’s not wallow in the messy middle of the Singularity. Apologies to Robert Frost. www.semafor.com/article/09/1...

semafor.com

View: We have nothing to fear but AI fear itself

Blindly believing advocates who say AI could kill us means missing some real risks, like economic or societal destabilization as AI transforms how people work and communicate.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This is what "vibe genealogy" looks like. A family historian fed his tree to Claude Code and got what genealogy software never gave him: a map of 8 generations of ancestral birthplaces, every parent-to-child move drawn as a line. Nearly all born within 40 miles of Mount Airy, NC. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I am not interested in making Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 fight for a trophy. I want one to analyze the genealogical record and the other to find the holes—using the same free GRA v9.2 methodology—before I return to the actual evidence and decide. Desktop setup + workflow guide in the reply.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Free Fable 5 access ends TONIGHT, 11:59:59 PM Pacific. Last night, on vacation, I watched two rival AIs grade each other's genealogy homework: 155 records, a sealed answer key, bars set before I peeked. Zero invented facts. Four real bugs caught. One honest failing grade.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Claude Fable 5 is back — but only included through July 7, then it goes metered. Don't waste it on chat. I published a working guide: how to actually spend your Fable week on genealogy — copy-ready prompts, a live demo on my own family records, and a try-it-yourself exercise. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Claude Fable 5 is coming back — Anthropic says the export controls are lifted and access returns tomorrow. I had it for three days in June and put it to real genealogical work. Just published a field report on what a frontier model can build for family history. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Anatomy of a Shakedown. Trump floated taking "pieces" of AI companies. Days later, a national-security order forced Anthropic to switch off its two most powerful models worldwide—even its own foreign-national staff—on 90 minutes' notice. Security, or leverage?

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Trump did not merely endorse AI regulation. He publicly discussed taking “pieces” from AI companies so the public could become “very rich,” framed it as a “partnership with the American public,” then said he expected top AI executives to agree to “giving back.”

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

1/ Trump muses that Washington should take ownership stakes in AI firms. Days later, a national-security export order forces Anthropic to switch off its two most powerful models. Stated reason: security. Real result: leverage. A chokehold.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

The era of the "free" AI lunch is ending. For 3 years, VC covered the gap between your $20 subscription and what frontier models cost. Exhibit A: Claude Fable 5 goes pay-per-token after June 22 — $10/M in, $50/M out. The new skill isn't using AI. It's knowing when the expensive model is worth it.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

AI is not neutral. That's the central claim in Pope Leo XIV's new encyclical: every technology carries the values of those who build it, fund it, regulate it, and use it. One of the most consequential AI statements we'll see this year — and it didn't come from Silicon Valley.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

I switched my main AI app from Antigravity to Codex six weeks ago. Today I'm ~60% Codex, 30% Claude Code, 10% Antigravity—and loyal to none of them. Don't fall in love with your chatbot. Then I had Claude explain my own words back to me three ways. It got weird. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Met Kurt Luther (Virginia Tech, creator of Civil War Photo Sleuth) and his PhD student last week — came away impressed. Their lab is recruiting genealogy hobbyists for a 2-week remote study of Genet, their AI browser extension. (1/2)

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Ep 41 is live: "More Is Not the Same as Better" 400x more DNA data. 2.3M searchable pension pages. Wikipedia bans AI content 44-2. And an interview with FamilyTreeDNA's David Vance that's one of the best we've done this year. podcast.show/3738800/epis...

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

In 2023, AI could handle a 4-minute task. By 2026, 12 hours. That's the METR time-horizon benchmark — and the curve is nearly vertical. One metric, not the whole story, but hard to look away from. And new models coming soon.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Fair warning: "I built a thing" post incoming. 18 months. A free prompt that teaches AI the difference between "primary source" (wrong) and "original source containing primary information" (genealogy).

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Friend asked if anyone had a tool to turn any file into a GEDCOM file. Built one in a couple of hours. Tested it on a 1909 newspaper article -- both Claude and ChatGPT caught a contradictory marriage date I hadn't noticed. Free prompt, works in any chatbot or as a skill in agent harnesses!

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Download this Virginia seal “No Kings” image in multiple sizes and aspect ratios—square, portrait, landscape, and Facebook banner—and read the full story behind it and the March 28, 2026, rally at (link in first comment):

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Virginia put the answer on its state seal in 1776: Virtus standing over a fallen tyrant, his crown in the dust, his chain broken. Sic Semper Tyrannis. Thus always to tyrants. This isn't politics. This is inheritance. March 28. #NoKings

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Fun Prompt Friday: I ran a 108-line image analysis prompt on the same family photo across four AI models. Claude, GPT-5.4, Gemini, Grok — scored head to head. Free prompt, full comparison matrix, and the results are not what I expected. #genealogy

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Ten days. The president's counterterrorism director quit, saying this war was started under foreign pressure. Courts ordered Voice of America restored. Thirteen Americans dead, no congressional vote. Now is the time for all patriots to come to the aid of their country.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Thirteen days. Now is the time for all patriots to come to the aid of their country.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

I made a quiz that maps you onto a spectrum of 34 real AI thinkers. Takes two minutes. You get a personalized report — allies, blind spots, tensions, reading list. Then I wrote about why genealogists should be building their own tools, not buying them. And five examples to try today. Link below.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Just published my RootsTech 2026 takeaways. Five things that stood out — including why Alton Brown's "uni-tasker" rule applies to AI genealogy apps. Also: I'm more direct than usual about our Academy course. Fair warning. Link in reply.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Fresh off RootsTech 2026 — Mark Thompson and I taught six sessions on AI and genealogy. Now we're teaching a 5-week Level I course starting March 17. Practical AI skills + a community that lasts. Recordings available 60 days. 15% off: ROOTSTECH15OFF Link in reply.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Anthropic CEO draws two red lines with the Pentagon: no mass domestic surveillance, no fully autonomous weapons. The Dept. of War threatens retaliation—supply chain blacklist, Defense Production Act. Anthropic won't budge. This may define how military AI is governed for years.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Claude Skills are the next iteration or evolution of prompt-based genealogy work. Nicole Dyer is a Jedi Master of explaining this technology in a genealogical context.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

A karaoke company erased $17.4 billion from the stock market. Look at this chart — AI capability just went vertical. "Hard take-off" is the scariest term in AI right now, and your feeds are full of it. Here's what it actually means and who's saying it.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Is AI boiling the oceans? The popular narrative is off by orders of magnitude. As Ethan Mollick warns, an "omnicausal anti-AI" coalition is forming — lumping every fear together and crowding out the nuanced policies we actually need. 🧵👇

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

This is the strangest story you'll read all month. It's not the birth of Skynet. But it may be the beginning of Facebook for Baby Skynet. Since the AI Revolution kicked into third gear late last year, the pace of acceleration has been picking up.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

NYT frame-by-frame: An agent removed a gun from Pretti's hip and took it from the scene. Then, "while Mr. Pretti is on his knees and restrained, the agent standing directly above him appears to fire one shot at Mr. Pretti at close range. He immediately fires three additional shots."

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Alex Pretti. ICU Nurse. 23 seconds before he was shot, he was helping a woman stand up. [Edited to correct caption.]

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

DHS said Alex Pretti had "an intent to massacre." The New York Times reviewed the video moment by moment: • Phone in hand • Helping a woman stand up • Restrained by 7 agents • Gun removed by 8th agent • Shot 10 times in 5 seconds Who had intent to massacre?

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

They took his gun. Then they shot him ten times. The video is public. Gift link in first comment:

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Beyond ChatGPT: Anthropic's Claude is a serious contender for family history research. Start free at Claude•ai—but their ecosystem of products, features, and Loathsome Jargon gets messy fast. This map shows how it all fits together and where to start. —Steve Little, VibeGenealogy•ai #genealogy

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

King's thermostat metaphor wasn't clever wordplay. It was a diagnosis. Witherspoon saw it in 1776. Bonhoeffer in 1942. King in 1963. The question for 2026: is your church setting the temperature—or just reflecting it? #MLKDay

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Before Bonhoeffer, before King, a minister named Witherspoon saw the pattern: When good people hesitate, the moment rots and justice dies. 1776 · 1942 · 1963 · 2026 The only clergy signer. July 2nd he spoke; July 4th, a nation.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

"We will see" is what they said in 1933 as neighbors vanished. What King heard in 1963 as moderates counseled patience. What too many say now. Silence is a side.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

OMG--danger Will Robinson! This totally works--I just built working versions of Omega Race and Lunar Lander as I remember this on my Commodore-64 and the arcade.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Fun Prompt Friday: Updated my GPS Research Assistant prompt to v8 (compact). Under 8K characters—works as a Claude instruction file, custom GPT, Gemini Gem, or pasted into any AI chat. Free to copy and use. #genealogy

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

"Joseph Little" on an 1897 marriage register. "Jethro Wilson Little" on a 1951 death certificate. Same person? Claude noticed—and proved it. His wife of 54 years confirmed his full legal name. Day 4 of 5: Your First Discovery.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Remember configuring autoexec.bat? CLAUDE•md is your AI startup script. One file tells Claude who you are, how you work, and what you expect—before you ask your first question. Day 3 of 5: The file that makes Claude yours. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Powerful tools need guardrails. Here's yours. Day 2: Your Safe Sandbox. The folder is the boundary. Everything outside doesn't exist to Claude. 🧵

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Anthropic announced Claude Cowork today—but it's rolling out slowly. Power-users can access Claude Code NOW with Claude Desktop or the IDE extension. Day 1 of 5: What if Claude worked IN your research folder?

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I pointed Claude Code at 156 unsorted #genealogy images. It categorized them by record type, family group, timeline, geography, and research gaps — then built me an interactive dashboard to explore them. This is one of two demos. The other is the network visualizer you're looking at.

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

800 million people use AI tools every week. A tiny fraction are genealogists—but many work with the same raw materials we do. Here's one example of what that looks like:

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Steve Little @digitalarchivst.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Mollick isn't a tech-bro hype man—he's a balanced, well-informed voice. Here he faces a smart skeptic's hardest questions. Skeptics need balanced info—not denial, not magical thinking. Naiveté is no virtue when facing an uncertain future. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/5cFKDiGUKE1akJaNJyRwpV

open.spotify.com

An AI Expert Challenges an AI Skeptic, with Ethan Mollick

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