How we use AI.

What the helper does

The helper is a free set of instructions, called a skill, for Claude. Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic, an American company.

Give the helper a document and it types out what it says. Then it drafts claims. A claim is one small fact about one person, written down with the record it came from. Each claim also says what kind of source it rests on and how sure you can be. On this site’s other pages we call a claim a statement.

The helper does the slow, careful note-keeping. You decide what counts as true.

What it must never do

The helper must never add an ancestor, a date or a source that no record supports. Every claim names the document it came from. A guess is written down as a guess, marked inference, and never quietly turns into a fact.

Instructions are not a guarantee. An AI tool can still misread a word or suggest a likely-sounding person. So check each draft against its document before you keep it. Read why AI invents ancestors, then run the checklist before anything goes on a shared tree.

Where your files go with the free helper

Anything you type, paste or upload into Claude goes to Anthropic, which runs it. Anthropic handles that material under the settings on your own Claude account. The notes the helper writes inside Claude go there too.

Before you start, turn off “Help Improve our AI models” in your account’s Privacy settings. This stops new conversations being used to train Anthropic’s models, with a few exceptions. Leave living relatives out of anything you send. The privacy guide shows each step and explains the exceptions.

Your original papers, scans and research notes stay on your own computer unless you choose to upload them. Keep a copy of any notes the helper makes. With the free helper, Tin Chest never sees your conversations or your family’s files.

If you order the Family Box gift

The gift works the other way round. Your parent sends the papers to us. We receive the scans or photos, and the originals stay at home.

We read them with Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, under our own account. We send it only what it needs to read each document. Ed, who runs Tin Chest, then checks every finding against the document it came from.

The privacy notice says what we keep, who else handles it and for how long.

Doing it without AI

You do not need the helper for anything on this site. A notebook, the free record sites and an hour a week are enough. Write each fact down with the record it came from, and note by hand what kind of source it is and how sure you are.

How to get started takes you through a first afternoon with paper alone. If you want the helper later, download it free. No email is needed.