I Used Ancestry.com’s New AI Feature To ‘Meet’ My Great-Great-Grandfather

But I went too far back and ended up meeting a guy named Shakka The Brute

Photo by Gioele Fazzeri on Unsplash

I was super excited when I learned about Ancestry.com’s new feature that uses AI to “bring to life” an ancestor so you can “meet” them. How it works is you put on a headset and enter a virtual reality where you can have a conversation with relatives from the past. I’ve always been super interested in the history of my great-great-grandfather and I couldn’t wait to strap myself in and speak with him about his life and times.

However, something went wrong after I plugged into the VR headset, and I ended up going way too far back in time and meeting a guy named Shakka The Brute. I guess I was related to him, too, somehow? It was kind of hard to tell what year it was, but judging by the atmosphere I’d say it was the Middle Ages.

I don’t think I caught Shakka The Brute at the ideal time. He was banging his genitals against a tree. Still, I tried to withhold judgement. My family history is important to me and there were probably many things I could still learn from this fascinating forefather.

After a while he turned and regarded me with some suspicion. I opened my arms wide and told him I was his progeny, come to meet him from…