Stephen J. Little,  is the AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society and has lifelong passions for language, technology, and genealogy. He completed graduate-level courses in applied linguistics, specializing in natural language processing and computational linguistics, two pillars of today’s large language models of AI; his first career was spent in and around libraries (law, local, university, and state archives) building information systems. Steve traces his deep roots to one Appalachian County, where, by 1820, all 32 of his 3rd-great-grandparents had settled—many even earlier than that. 60 of his most recent ancestors were born, lived, and died there in Ashe County, North Carolina. His passion lies in AI & genetic genealogy, with a keen interest in endogamy, pedigree collapse, and the art of deciphering multiple relationships through DNA segment triangulation, and an insatiable curiosity to explore beneficial uses and current limits of artificial intelligence in genealogy. Beyond genealogy, Steve wears many hats: he’s a husband and a dad, a Methodist pastor, and a Virginian. His hobbies span from bird watching and sky gazing to chess and film. Additionally, he’s an avid reader, writer, photographer, and regex script hacker.

June 2025 Course Coordinator – 2025-01 AI & Genealogy: Innovations in Family History