Libraries and well.. everything else

Jump to Comments

Watching this week’s lecture on New Horizons, I saw that there was an emphasis on trend spotting. How spotting and anticipating societal and cultural changes should be a core practice for information professionals. As libraries continue to shift towards a participatory service model by integrating new technologies, it makes sense to keep up with the trends. Anything relevant to how we can continue helping people and the technology they are surrounded by. 

One of the most relevant trends or shifts in our culture is the use of AI. As I was reading through the teaching and learning edition of the 2025 New Horizons Report, I was not surprised that there was a lot discussed about the use of AI in education. I agree with the importance of educators (and information professionals) keeping up with understanding this technology as it is not going to go away, it will be used regardless. Although the report does urge for a balanced opinion and evaluation of AI, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a lot of optimism for it as well. I especially appreciated the examples of AI already in use in educational settings in the context of digital literacy, upskilling, and as learning tools. One that I found interesting was the use of AI in training medical situations for empathy. Students can talk to an AI avatar that receives a prompt to roleplay as a certain type of patient. Using AI in training settings, is much more engaging and similar to real life experiences than reading a scenario off of a textbook. For many library systems, staff need to be trained on how to handle certain situations, especially if they are in a supervisory role. Walking through a potential real life scenario with an AI avatar is just one example of how AI can be used to benefit our libraries.