My social network has been staunchly divided into two camps: those that despise AI and consider it an affront to art and humanity, and those that are delighted by the new world on the horizon and all the services AI can offer.
I had never used ChatGPT until I enrolled in this MLIS program, and have found it to be an incredibly useful tool in early brainstorming processes. Using ChatGPT at the beginning of a project tends to let me start with a bigger picture rather than from a single point.
So, naturally, as libraries continue to adopt, share, and teach new technologies, an understanding of artificial intelligence will be essential in the field. Here’s where my pessimism comes in: I’ve watched many peers and members of my community make it to the present day without developing a strong ability to flag misleading content when they come across it on the internet. It’s a new arm of the literacy problem, but I continue to feel dismay when some obviously AI generated piece of media is taken at face-value by people I know. The timing feels rotten, as our country is really struggling to form a consensus reality at the moment, but I suppose that the only way is forward, and offering opportunities to educate library patrons is probably the most reliable difference we can make.
My favorite article in this collection was the article ChatGPT is Changing Information Architectures. Comparing the emergence of ChatGPT to the emergence of Wikipedia gives this novel technology a sense of historical precedence. It directly identifies what we’re experiencing as a common human reaction to new technology––fear––and reiterates that solution is curiosity and critical thinking.
Hi @zwillats
Great topic. It’s definitely a divisive one right now.
I’m from the art world originally so I tend to take a harder line on AI most of the time, at least programs that generate art since it’s all stolen material being spliced together.
That said I can see how something like chatGPT has it’s uses. It does scare me to see how easily folks are fooled by AI but it seems like there are areas where it can be useful with the right rules and/or laws in place.
I would highly recommend “More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech” by Meredith Broussard. It gives a great look at the possibilities and realistic limitations of AI. Broussard has an impressive resume to back up her work, too.
Hi Zoe! Your discussion emphasizes the various approaches to AI in our libraries and personal lives. Personally, I’m on the end of the line who just doesn’t care for the tool; I’m quite concerned with its inconsistencies, specifically with elements of disinformation and misinformation that can sneak its way into a response. As someone who’s interested in the academic librarian pathway, I’m also worried of the misuse of AI in scholarly settings. I do, however, believe that I’ve become more accepting of its existence since starting the MLIS program. Since AI can no longer be overlooked, I wonder how it can be regulated—if it can. How much is too much AI? What role should AI have in our libraries? How exactly will AI help our patrons? How can we inform our patrons on the benefits and weaknesses of such a tool? Great post!
Thanks @zwillats — Your balanced view is valuable in library science contexts. I am new to exploring AI and also enjoyed that article. I hadn’t thought about brainstorming, but there are so many possibilities. One suggestion I saw on Instagram was to give it your to-do list and ask it to suggest the best order or ways to make it fun.
~ @angela
@zwillats I so appreciate your approach to this post and that you shared how you use AI in the program. I sometimes write an email and then drop it into AI ChatGPT or just have Apple Intelligence give it a proofread. I appreciate that because sometimes I have typos and other mistakes that I can catch that way. I also had a wonderful conversation with the assistant Director of one of the local libraries here in Michigan and he said it has saved him so much time for example creating an outline for a presentation he was going to do for the public on some technology topic. And the library is even going to be doing AI classes because that’s something I truly believe librarian should be involved in to help people understand what the tool does and maybe set some things straight like all the negatives swirling around the topic.