For librarians and information professionals, some of the questions are, What are the implications of AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E for academic libraries? How might it change what we do, and how might it help us better serve and meet the needs of twenty-first-century students? Below are some suggestions and predictions of how AI tools may change our work, and ways we can leverage them to enhance and improve it.
Research:ChatGPT can be used to spark ideas or simplify aspects of the research process. It can help brainstorm topics, generate lists of keywords, and provide summaries of works. Soon, you’ll be able to upload your own text into ChatGPT and ask it for an abstract. If ChatGPT can be connected to library discovery tools, it might also be able to create a bibliography of relevant resources on your topic. In the future, AI tools may serve as research assistants, conducting virtual experiments, analyzing data, copywriting and editing text, and generating citations.
Reference:Like ChatGPT, librarians have been trained to learn what people mean based on the questions they ask. AI chatbots are already being used by libraries to answer basic reference questions and refer harder ones to librarians. ChatGPT is simply an extension of that current service. Librarians can assist researchers by providing tips in asking the right questions to get the best results. These tools also free up librarian time to focus on more complex research queries or tasks. Additionally, they provide 24/7 service, fulfilling a need librarians can’t always provide.
Teaching:The ease with which ChatGPT can answer research questions can change how we teach. Rather than rely on testing for factual understanding or assigning essays, more complex assignments connected specifically with the content of the course will be required. The current trend of embedding and integrating more active and experiential learning activities into the curriculum can also help, especially if assignments take other forms such as infographics, podcasts, or videos. Academic libraries already provide services and spaces for these types of creations and learning opportunities. Librarians can assist faculty in creating such assignments.
ChatGPT can also create syllabi, sample lesson plans, and the text for a LibGuide in seconds. Some have even suggested that ChatGPT could act as a graduate assistant to a class, providing tutoring support to students. Sites like the Sentient Syllabus3and “Understanding AI Writing Tools and their Uses for Teaching and Learning” from the University of California-Berkeley,4provide ideas for using ChatGPT in the classroom.
Textbooks:Academic libraries are deeply invested in supporting faculty in the creation of open educational resources (OER). Textbooks that once took a year to write can be written by ChatGPT in hours in response to a series of queries. Obviously, the resulting text will need to be reviewed and revised to ensure the information is accurate and ensure quality. If the time to create OERs is reduced, more free textbooks will be available to faculty, allowing them to choose and tailor them to specific courses, improving their teaching and saving students thousands of dollars.
Information literacy and digital literacy:AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E will make information literacy and digital literacy more important than ever. Librarians can assist faculty in teaching students critical thinking skills to validate facts and evaluate the quality of the answers provided by ChatGPT or determine whether a Matisse painting is really a Matisse or AI-generated art in his style. While it may be difficult to identify a work written or created by a student vs. a bot, teaching students and faculty information literacy skills will help them make educated guesses through critical analysis of what is presented.
Writing and creation:Anand Rao, chair of the Department of Communications and Digital Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, believes ChatGPT and other AI tools will “change the nature of knowledge production itself.”5Rather than start from scratch, ChatGPT can produce a rough draft of text that can be used as inspiration for your own work. DALL-E can create new, inspirational works of art that can be pulled into image creation tools like the Adobe Creative Suite and altered and tweaked to develop original creations. The same is the case with writing lyrics and music with ChatGPT. ChatGPT can also “assist developers in writing better code at a faster clip.”6
Plagiarism:Ethical dilemmas come into play when it comes to identifying authorship or monetizing the products of AI tool queries. Faculty say that students who turn in work from ChatGPT as their own are committing plagiarism. But are they? Plagiarism is defined as “presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.” ChatGPT is not a “someone.” Should students be citing ChatGPT or crediting them as a co-author? Along with concerns about students turning in papers generated by ChatGPT, academic journals likeNaturehave concerns about how AI tools threaten transparent science. Scientists worry that “researchers could deceitfully pass off LLM written text as their own or use LLMs in a simplistic fashion and produce work that is unreliable.”7
Naturehas already received several submissions with ChatGPT as a co-author. Scientists disagree on whether ChatGPT can fulfill this criterion, as the tool can’t take responsibility for the content it is creating or consent to a journal’s terms. What scientists do agree on is that policies are needed—and fast! Librarians can work with teachers, researchers, and publishers to facilitate these conversations and advocate for directions that ensure transparency and acknowledge authorship.
Copyright:There is lively debate around who owns copyright to an AI-created product. The news is full of stories of authors publishing books on Amazon that were created entirely with AI-generated text and illustrations. Entrepreneurs are asking DALL-E to create art and then adding it to web catalogs to be printed on canvas on demand for a profit. These “authors” claim that they queried the AI tool and thus they should own copyright to the resulting product. Others claim “fair use.” David Wiley, chief academic officer of Lumen Learning, queried the US Copyright Office “seeking to register [a] computer-generated work as a work-for-hire to the owner.”8The Copyright Office responded that it “will not register works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process that operates without any creative input or intervention from a human author because, under the statute, ‘a work must be created by a human being.’” It remains to be seen if this is the final answer or if this subject will be fought in the courts. Librarians, already viewed as experts in copyright, should keep up with these discussions, providing faculty with the latest information and guidance as the rules become clearer.
Productivity:Librarians can maximize their productivity in other ways using AI tools. ChatGPT can write emails, such as a cold call encouraging a faculty member to use the library’s e-reserve service. It can generate a list of read-a-likes or books on topics for a thematic display. Drafts of marketing materials such as press releases and even event posters can be created via AI queries. The ways that AI tools can make writing and image creation faster and easier appears limitless.
Equity and inclusion:Just like any creation, AI tools can be biased based on the preconceptions of their creators or the accuracy of their data sources. Librarians can encourage students to be aware of biases that may appear in ChatGPT’s answers. OpenAI’s current monetization of ChatGPT, offering a paid “pro” tier promising more reliable access and faster response time, raises red flags for the future of such product. Such a model could produce a knowledge trade with haves and have-nots depending on an individual’s ability to foot the bill.
*Copyrighted material quoted entirely from:
Cox, C., & Tzoc, E. (2023). ChatGPT: Implications for academic libraries. College & Research Libraries News, 84(3), 99. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.3.99
ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late November 2022 and immediately went viral, reaching one million users in one week. Built by OpenAI, which is also responsible for the breakthrough image generator, DALL-E, ChatGPT is an LLM (large language model) tool that uses deep learning techniques to generate text in response to questions posed to it. It can generate essays, email, song lyrics, recipes, computer code, webpages, even games and medical diagnoses. Rather than search the internet, ChatGPT has been trained on a large corpus of text, including news articles, books, websites, academic articles, and other sources. The current corpus includes data from multiple languages and computer codes. The generation of text is accomplished by predicting the next word in a series of words to produce sentences and then entire pages of content.
About two to three weeks after its launch, several groups began discussing ChatGPT’s effect and implications for higher education. A blog post, “Resources for Exploring ChatGPT and Higher Education” by Bryan Alexander, listed more than 20 resources on the disruptive technology.1During the first week of January, the conversation made it into higher ed venues such as theChronicle of Higher EducationandInside Higher Ed. Reactions to ChatGPT have ranged from praise for it as a potential digital assistant or research partner to schools banning it in classrooms fearing students will use it to generate research papers and exam answers.
*Copyrighted material quoted entirely from:
Cox, C., & Tzoc, E. (2023). ChatGPT: Implications for academic libraries. College & Research Libraries News, 84(3), 99. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.3.99
Conclusion
It’s hard to predict how AI tools will impact librarianship. In many ways, ChatGPT reminds us of how society reacted to other innovative developments including the invention of calculators, cell phones, the World Wide Web, and Wikipedia. Perhaps the other set of questions we should be asking are, How can librarians integrate these new tools into what we do? How can we help reduce their biases and improve the output quality? How can we integrate them into the future of teaching and learning at different levels? While AI tools have the potential to improve our lives and the lives of those we serve, they are unable to replace the human interactions that set us apart from any technology. Libraries can embrace the AI revolution by evaluating these new tools and developing services to support their use.
*Copyrighted material quoted entirely from:
Cox, C., & Tzoc, E. (2023). ChatGPT: Implications for academic libraries. College & Research Libraries News, 84(3), 99. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.84.3.99
FAQs
What is the use of AI in library? ›
AI applications in library services
AI can also help librarians provide personalized and relevant recommendations to their patrons, based on their preferences, behavior, and context. AI can also assist librarians in answering complex and diverse queries, using natural language processing and semantic analysis.
Information literacy can play a vital role in educating the users of libraries on various information and documentary resources, where to start searching for information, what, where and how to access them and compare retrieved information and how to communicate their information.
What are the information literacy skills needed by library? ›An information literate student is able to: recognize a need for information; determine the extent of information needed; access information efficiently; critically evaluate information and its sources; classify, store, manipulate and redraft information collected or generated; incorporate selected information into ...
What are examples of artificial intelligence in libraries? ›In libraries, AI is used in search functionality. Specific examples include DynaMed and Micromedex with Watson and Expert.ai's connection in EBSCO. Other ways AI is in libraries are through chatbots, training others on AI capabilities, and through research.
What are the challenges of artificial intelligence in libraries? ›Some other challenges include poor networking, erratic power supply, lack of trained personnel, outdated technologies and economic factors and high cost of technological tools that should be addressed before implementing AI in library operations (Echedom and Okuonghae, 2022).
How is AI used in information systems? ›Artificial intelligence (AI) for IT operations refers to the application of AI to manage Information Technology based on a multi-based platform. Big Data and machine learning are the two primary technologies employed in AIOps. Using data from the past and present, these automate data processing and decision making.
What are the 5 components of information literacy? ›You can think of information literacy as having five components: identify, find, evaluate, apply, and acknowledge sources of information.
What are examples of using information literacy? ›Examples of information literacy occur as someone goes through the step-by-step process to attain and verify information. For example, students writing a scientific research paper would first search for information for a specific purpose and make sure that they access that information in an effective way.
What is an example of use information literacy? ›Examples of these include planning, searching (searching for information, searching the web, Boolean searching and keywords) and evaluation (suitability and reliability of information source and currency of information).
What are the 4 skills necessary to be information literacy? ›It is a combination of research skills, critical thinking skills, computer technology skills, and communication skills. Information literacy is essential for academic success, effective functioning in the workplace, and participation in society as knowledgeable citizens.
What are 4 information literacy skills? ›
They are: 1) information technology fluency, 2) ways of thinking, 3) problem solving, and 4) communication.
Do librarians teach information literacy? ›Librarians are Uniquely Qualified to Teach the Information Literacy Skills.
What is the best AI library? ›NumPy. NumPy is widely regarded as the best Python library for machine learning and AI. It is an open-source numerical library that can be used to perform various mathematical operations on different matrices.
What are the 4 main problems AI can solve? ›- Healthcare.
- Wildlife Conservation.
- Learning and Training.
- Transportation.
- Hiring.
- Renewable Energy Sector.
- Research and Development.
- Logistics and Operations.
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision.
Where is AI used the most? ›- Personalized Shopping. ...
- AI-Powered Assistants. ...
- Fraud Prevention. ...
- Administrative Tasks Automated to Aid Educators. ...
- Creating Smart Content. ...
- Voice Assistants. ...
- Personalized Learning. ...
- Autonomous Vehicles.
SCONUL 7 Pillars Model of Information Literacy
It comprises of 7 IL Skills: Identify, Scope, Plan, Gather, Evaluate, Manage and Present.
Digital Literacy combines creativity, functional skills, e-safety, effective communication, the ability to find and select information, collaboration, cultural and social understanding, critical thinking and evaluation.
What are the six skills of information literacy? ›Big6 (Eisenberg and Berkowitz 1990) is a six-step process that provides support in the activities required to solve information-based problems: task definition, information seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation (see figure 1).
What are the three types of information literacy? ›Tool literacy - The ability to use print and electronic resources including software. Resource literacy - The ability to understand the form, format, location and access methods of information resources. Social-structural literacy - Knowledge of how information is socially situated and produced.
How can I improve my information literacy skills? ›
- Consider Context. While most of us believe we get our information from reliable sources, it is easy to forget that not all online contexts are the same. ...
- Consider Motivations. ...
- Consider it a Process. ...
- Specific Tools and Strategies.
Access the needed information effectively and efficiently. Evaluate information and its sources critically. Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge base. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
What is an example of digital information literacy? ›Some digital literacy examples include sending and receiving email, writing and publishing a blog, searching for information on a topic and evaluating the credibility of a source, and watching videos online.
What is information literacy in one sentence? ›Information Literacy is:
The ability to articulate one's information need. The ability to identify, locate and access appropriate sources of information to meet the information need. The ability to effectively use information resources, regardless of format.
Information literacy is the ability to recognize when and what information is needed, and the knowledge of how to define appropriate search strategies, determine relevant sources, locate, critically evaluate and ethically use information in all formats.
Which skill is most essential to information literacy? ›One of the most important aspects of information literacy is your ability to discern which sources are credible.
What are three core features of an information literate person? ›An information literate individual is able to:
Access the needed information effectively and efficiently. Evaluate information and its sources critically. Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge base. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
Maybe librarians at least need to be given time to read professional reviews of books, if they are not going to read the books themselves. But, ultimately, I do think librarians need to be readers. They need to be reading the books they are expected to recommend.
Is library literacy the same as information literacy? ›A library literacy class, where students learn locations of service desks, etc. and an information literacy class where students learn to search for, locate and effectively use information. Just some planning thoughts.
Do librarians use math? ›“Math is part of the whole curriculum, and it's important for a school librarian to be aware of the trends in math education so that they can figure out how to support the teachers in practicing those new approaches.”
What is the smartest AI right now? ›
GPT-3 was released in 2020 and is the largest and most powerful AI model to date. It has 175 billion parameters, which is more than ten times larger than its predecessor, GPT-2.
What libraries Python are used for AI? ›- TensorFlow: TensorFlow is a popular and widely used Python library for AI development. ...
- SpaCy: SpaCy is a Python library for sophisticated natural language processing. ...
- Gensim: A Python library called Gensim is used for topic modeling and document similarity analysis.
- TensorFlow.
- NumPy.
- SciPy.
- Pandas.
- Matplotlib.
- Keras.
- SciKit-Learn.
- PyTorch.
Is AI easy to learn? Learning AI is difficult for many students, especially those who do not have a computer science or programming background. However, it may be well worth the effort required to learn it. The demand for AI professionals will likely increase as more companies start designing products that use AI.
Which programming language is used for AI? ›Python is widely used for artificial intelligence, with packages for several applications including General AI, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Neural Networks. The application of AI to develop programs that do human-like jobs and portray human skills is Machine Learning.
What are the 5 big ideas in AI? ›In this fun one-hour class, students will learn about the Five Big Ideas in AI (Perception, Representation & Reasoning, Learning, Human-AI Interaction, and Societal Impact) through discussions and games.
What is the most common kind of AI used today? ›Machine learning is the most well-known type of artificial intelligence. It is used in everything from self-driving cars to marketing software.
Where is AI used in real life? ›Already, AI- and machine learning-enabled technologies are used in medicine, transportation, robotics, science, education, the military, surveillance, finance and its regulation, agriculture, entertainment, retail, customer service, and manufacturing.
What are 3 things artificial intelligence AI is capable of today? ›Definition of artificial intelligence
AI is the ability of a machine to display human-like capabilities such as reasoning, learning, planning and creativity.
One of the most exciting applications of AI in literature is its ability to generate new characters. By using machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze a wide range of literary texts and create unique characters that are consistent with established literary conventions.
How are robots used in library? ›
Shelf-reading robots use a self-localization algorithm to analyze the digital data collected against the library's collection database to identify books that are mis-shelved missing which is about 5% of the library collection.
How does AI help data collection? ›AI can also be used to analyze the data collected from websites. Machine learning algorithms can be trained to identify patterns and insights in the data, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions about their products, services, and marketing strategies.
Why are AI libraries in Python? ›Python is platform independent and that's why it can run on any operating system. Libraries and frameworks − Python offers multiple AI based libraries, these libraries are pre written codes. By using these libraries, developers can save a lot of time as well as improve the code readability.
What is the first example of artificial intelligence in literature? ›AI-controlled societies
An early example is Jack Williamson's 1947 novelette "With Folded Hands", in which a race of humanoid robots, in the name of their Prime Directive – "to serve and obey and guard men from harm" – essentially assume control of every aspect of human life.
How does AI writing work? Sharples describes the AI writing model used by OpenAI as a “highly souped-up text completer”. Just as your phone does if it has predictive text turned on, AI writing models look at what has been written before and predict what comes next.
Why is AI literacy important? ›AI Literacy increases teens' critical thinking skills and teaches them how to leverage AI so that they can make discerning education, career and life decisions.
How libraries can be automated? ›Library automation is most often associated with a library management system (LMS) which provides automated tools for managing a library's collections and usage information. Through library automation, all library daily tasks and services can be automated.
What is automated book picking robot for libraries? ›Book picking robot is a service robot which perform tasks such as book finding, picking and delivering it to the reader. The process of book finding and picking is automated by this work. The robot developed move towards the book and the navigation of robot is controlled through camera.
Where does AI collect data from? ›This is done by using software to gather data from online data sources automatically. Some methods of automating data collection include; Web-scraping, web crawling, using APIs, etc.
What is the best source of data for AI system? ›Primary and Secondary Sources of Data
Primary data sources can include surveys, observations, questionnaires, experiments, personal interviews, and more. The data from ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems can also be used as a primary source of data.
How can AI be used to clean data? ›
Data cleansing is an important and necessary part of AI. It helps to ensure accuracy in machine predictions which bolsters the value of the prediction and facilities more reliable conclusions, which is especially important in fields like medicine or science where low quality data can have dangerous consequences.
What is the difference between AI and machine learning? ›Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an umbrella term for computer software that mimics human cognition in order to perform complex tasks and learn from them. Machine learning (ML) is a subfield of AI that uses algorithms trained on data to produce adaptable models that can perform a variety of complex tasks.
Do I need to learn Python for AI? ›For AI development, a programmer must have a solid knowledge not only of the Python programming language but also of special libraries. Examples of Python libraries for AI and ML are Scikit-learn, Pandas, Keras, TensorFlow, Matplotlib, NLTK, Scikit-image, PyBrain, Caffe, or StatsModels.