AI and Libraries

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has several “connotations arising from strong public imagination fuelled by scientific fiction and other popular media forms”.  It can be viewed as an “evolving” technology rather than a single idea, which includes and not limited to, machine learning, solving and making decisions (Davis 2024). AI can be found in healthcare, transport and finance, growing and expanding rapidly into different services and industries.

With this, AI has been a topic of discussion in academia for a while, with much of the talk focusing on its implications for higher education. And this conversation includes libraries.

What does AI mean for libraries?

It’s not a unique question. Nearly 30 years ago, libraries were wrangling the exact same question regarding Google and Audiobooks/readers. However, libraries are still here. We simply adapted, something we have been doing throughout our 1000-year history.

We adapt, adjust and reinvent.

Digital advancements have brought a reinvention and transformation of our resources, spaces and technologies.

The demand for physical items has declined while the e-book format has thrived. E-book circulation in the United States was 662 million in 2023 and is expected to surge to 1 billion by 2030. In a span of 10 years, libraries in the USA have seen computer usage go from 4 million in 2010 to 250 million in 2020 (Meesad, 2024).

These figures don’t reflect a threat but a change. They reflect the augmentation of library services and engagement.

“Librarians are uniquely positioned to rise to the challenge that AI presents to their field. Libraries and their like have existed for millennia; they progress with society, altering and adapting their services to meet the information needs of their communities. Academic libraries today have greatly expanded their digital offerings, not just to include electronic books or journal articles but also to support software application discovery and use. Some academic libraries might say they lack a fundamental knowledge of AI or that they are ill-equipped to speak on the subject, and yet they have likely been interacting with AI through the different types of software applications they support. At the very least, they have accounted for and mastered the art of the search algorithm.” (Nevis 2022)

Libraries are already becoming increasingly digital, with e-versions of print items becoming more popular than their physical counterpart. Study spaces are more reflective of digital needs. AI is perhaps more present in libraries than some people might know. The introduction of chatbots, sleeker interfaces, and predictive searching in catalogues.

Smart Libraries

We are hearing about smart libraries. Although the term dates to the 1960s with the emergence of tagging books (Farkhari, F., CheshmehSohrabi, M., & Karshenas, H. (2024). It has seen a resurgence in conservation. The term smart libraries is flexible in definition. Smart stands for Services, Methods, Automation, Resources and Technology. For a library to be deemed smart, it can be because the library offers self-service for patrons, e-resources, wifi, printers, green technology and even automated doors (Orji, Anyira 2021). Smart libraries are really libraries with some form of digital offering (Kumar, G. Chikkamanju, (2024).

Smart Library services include

• Library marketing and engagement
• Discussion forms
• Electronic board services
• Contact the librarian
• Digital references
• Portals
• Virtual library tours

(Kumar, Chikkamanju 2024)

As the term smart libraries is not a new term, the qualification for being smart is to have some digital aspect. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that libraries are currently in their smart era. But when technology evolves, so will this concept.

Future technologies aren’t far away for libraries, and some of these technologies are already integrated or will be. And while it can be seen to bring opportunities for libraries rather than threatening their existence, that doesn’t mean there aren’t limitations, risks, or concerns.

The Risks of AI in Libraries

For every pro for AI in libraries, there is a flipside with a con.  It is important to acknowledge the risks and concerns before proceeding.

AI is known for finding information, and it is used in search engines. All you need to do is search for a question for ChatGPT. And it can assist librarians and library systems in this regard, but it is not without issues. AI poses issues regarding the privacy and confidentiality of library users.

It’s great for patrons to have more personalised searches than general ones. AI can provide more results that patrons want. However, it poses problems of limiting information for the patron. AI has cultural bias; being Western-centric, which can skew information provided (Darrell Gunter 2024).  Providing a certain representation limits different opinions and views, which shrinks the understanding of results.  And back to the point of personalised searches, it means offering information that you think the user would like, rather than what would be useful or interesting, which again limits search results and information (Liblime 2024). Libraries are information hubs; this is what makes them wonderful. A library user can enter a library knowing nothing about a topic but leave knowing everything. AI personalising results and having a Western focus can take away from that.

And then there are ethical issues to consider. For these personalised searches to occur, AI needs to learn from users and access their personal data. Libraries are committed to user confidentiality, which AI can jeopardise by learning from the users.

AI can assist with searching, but there is a possibility of bias and narrow results.  And it might reduce the art of searching itself. AI can create co-dependency. Why do you need to filter search thousands of options on a catalogue when AI can bring up the direct results? This adds to the concern of library users not using libraries to their full potential, but instead receiving limited knowledge.  And in turn can ruin critical thinking.

Again, sticking with the flip side of the coin regarding the pros and cons. AI-assisted tools can aid digital literacy skills by making understanding easier.  It can also deepen the divide. People who already have a basic knowledge of digital skills will grasp these technologies more easily, given an unfair start. To combat this divide, libraries would require more resources, funding to teach users, which not all libraries can provide. Libraries in poorer areas will be disadvantaged already in covering this divide.

Conclusion

It is clear that for every benefit that AI can provide, there is a counterargument. It is important to acknowledge both pros and cons. These technologies are impending for libraries, and it is up to libraries to implement and use them. AI is the future technology; it is available in every service and industry, and libraries will not be the exception.

Libraries can work with these technologies, but we need to understand the wider picture before taking up the brush.

By Maya Green

References

Davis, J. (2024). Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Academic Libraries: A Leadership Perspective. College & Research Libraries News, 85(8), 347. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.85.8.347

Farkhari, F., CheshmehSohrabi, M., & Karshenas, H. (2024). Smart library: Reflections on concepts, aspects and technologies. Journal of Information Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515241260715

Kumar, G. Chikkamanju, (2024) Smart Libraries in the Digital Era: An Overview. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research https://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2401582.pdf

Meesad, P., Mingkhwan, A. (2024). AI-Powered Smart Digital Libraries. In: Libraries in Transformation. Studies in Big Data, vol 157. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69216-

Meesad, P., Mingkhwan, A. (2024). Future Vision: Libraries as Digital-Era Beacons. In: Libraries in Transformation. Studies in Big Data, vol 157. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-69216-1_5

Nevi, E. (2022) New from ACRL The Rise of AI https://acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/new-from-acrl-the-rise-of-ai/

Orji, Sotonye & Anyira, Isaac. (2021). What is “Smart” About Smart Libraries?. International Journal of Research in Library Science. 7. 265-271. 10.26761/IJRLS.7.4.2021.1482.

Unwelcome AI: Examining the negative impacts on Libraries, Liblime Empowering Librarians 2024

Senthilkumar, K. R. (Ed.). (2024). AI-Assisted Library Reconstruction (First edition.). Information Science Reference.

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