How I Predict Families Will Preserve Family Histories in the Near Future, and the Role of AI

It’s no secret that Florida is full of elderly people.

We’re warmer. Easier on aging bones. Kinder to cold feet and stiff mornings. People retire here for a reason, and with that comes something many families don’t think about right away: an entire generation of stories living close by.

Across Florida, more families are starting to think seriously about how to preserve their family histories while parents and grandparents are still here to tell them.

Tools like Storyworth and Memorgram have been popular ways to try and do that. Writing prompts. Emails. A book at the end of the process. On paper, it makes sense.

In real life, it’s harder than it sounds.

I was reminded of that yesterday during a discovery call with a prospective client.

“It’s just been hard to pin my mom down to actually finish it.”

That’s the quiet flaw with written family history projects. They ask aging parents or grandparents to commit to something ongoing. Weeks or months of motivation. Logging in. Sitting down to write. Life gets busy. Energy fades. The project stalls.

A video session works differently.

You sit down once. You talk. You’re done.

A videography session lasts a few hours, not a few months. There’s no homework. No reminders. No half-finished chapters sitting in an inbox somewhere.

Why Video Works Better Than Written Family Stories

There’s also something families don’t talk about enough: future generations.

Let’s be honest. It’s easier to get someone to watch something than to read something. Especially kids. Especially grandkids. Especially years from now.

A book of stories can be meaningful.
A video brings someone into the room.

That difference matters.

Mini-documentary family history films are more expensive than written story services. That’s true. But the value isn’t even close.

A picture shows a face.
A video captures a soul.

Mannerisms. The sound of a laugh. The pauses between sentences. The inflection in someone’s voice when they talk about something that shaped their life.

Those are the things families miss later. Not just what happened, but how it was told.

Why Preserving Family History Matters to Florida Families

In Floria cities and counties like Jacksonville, St. Johns, Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Naples, West Palm, Orlando, Tampa and throughout Central Florida, families often live close enough to aging parents that these conversations feel both possible and urgent.

You see time passing in real ways. A little slower getting up. A little more reflection when stories come up. That’s usually when people start thinking differently about preservation.

And looking ahead, I think this work is only going to matter more.

Why Real Stories Will Matter More Than AI in the Future

I predict a strong movement against artificial intelligence in the coming years. Not a rejection of technology, but a longing for what feels real.

AI is already impressive. And a little unsettling.

There’s software that can animate old photos and make people move. There’s software that can recreate someone’s voice and make it say whatever you want it to say.

That novelty will wear off.

Eventually, people will start asking a simple question:
Is this real, or is this generated?

When everything can be recreated, authenticity becomes priceless.

That’s why I’m proud of the work I do. These films are created face-to-face, in living rooms and family homes across Florida. Real conversations. Real laughter. Real pauses. Expressions that can’t be faked or recreated by software.

No scripts. No avatars. No filters.

Just people telling their stories the way they’ve always told them.

When you live close to parents and grandparents, when you see time moving in real ways, you start thinking differently about what’s worth keeping.

Photos will always matter. Written stories will always have value.

But video, done thoughtfully and intentionally, captures something nothing else can.

We’ll see what the future has in store. Technology will keep evolving. Tools will get faster and smarter. But my bet is this: people will start craving things that feel human again.

And when that happens, these stories will matter more than ever.