AI in the School Library

AI in the School Library: Scarier Than "Google It"?

As school librarians, it's important for us to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in technology, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool that everyone is jumping to play with and experience.. AI is quickly becoming a part of our daily lives, (I’m looking at you Alexa users!) and it's important for school librarians to understand how it can be used to improve the library experience for students.  

If you haven’t been hearing about the “chat” AI tools then its time to get up to speed.  
 
My dad (a part-time retired HS teacher who teaches two senior electives) watched aghast, at a recent family dinner, as the AI app Genie wrote a detailed and coherent essay about a documentary he has his students watch and write about for class.  It included specific references to the documentary tone, images and other elements that support the argument that it is subjective.  Like many teachers, his response was one of disbelief and then concern about how he will ensure his students are creating authentic work.  Rightfully so.

My sister (a small business owner) lauds the use of AI as a game changer for her work and cannot rave about it enough.  And, as an aid to her business, says it is the best productivity too she has ever has used. The AI tool has saved her tons of time, just in the few weeks she has been using it.  Specifically it has helped her reach out to local business who are related to her work, write social media posts, and connect with podcasters who may want her as a guest.

For many teachers, especially in secondary, this is a scary tool because it makes it so easy for kids to pass off work that is not their own.  However I believe that is where we, as librarians have a chance to get ahead of what is coming and help teachers and students use AI tools in a meaningful and appropriate way.

The reality is that most of us have already interacted with some form of AI, an Alexa, automated programs, tech support/chats, etc. ​

​What is blowing up online right now is the use of natural language “chatbots” to ask “the computer” do things, essentially creating commands to not just get the information, but get it, then write the whole paper, with cited sources.

Here is a great video that helps explain it in more detail.

​This is slightly terrifying as a librarian who focuses on teaching research, but after playing around with it a bit, I have a few take aways.  I definitely don’t have the answers and I am on the fence about a few of these, but this is my honest to goodness reaction.

1. Its not going anywhere.  Kind of like Google at the beginning, where no one wanted to let kids use it, but they still did anyway.  So the shift was teaching kids how to use Google searching effectively and to be more careful when evaluating sources.  (Though I know not everyone is on the Google-it train).  And AI...its going to force Google to change as well.
2. This going to alter how we look at “keyword” searching...forever.  Natural language searching is (hopefully) going to force databases to catch up with how students access materials.  The reality is, it is easier for students to type in their questions and that is what they try to do anyway.  Now, AI natural language “chats” will allow students to go beyond just a question and add a command with it.
3. Librarians - now is NOT the time to bury our heads in the sand and hope it goes away.  We need to look critically at our curriculum, how we teach plagiarism, if our school systems have honor or ethics policies and whether they have language that addresses the use of AI for student work. We are better off being prepared than scrambling to catch up or being reactive.
4. Automation is happening in every job right now and we are just one more field where that is happening.  While it has been shifting since the dawn of the internet,  I don’t think that the human connection of finding the right book for the right kid will be going anywhere, but on the research side... “oh the times they are a changin’”, again.
5. Fake news and bias are going to be harder to spot.  Undercurrents of racism and sexism abound within AI and will definetly be something that we need to be aware of as we use these tools and explain them to our students.  One more reason to really help students understand the value of evaluation.
6. With the right combination of words in a request, it may just save us some much needed time, especially when we are trying to do all the things.  For example, I asked AI to create me a list of book recommendations.  I had to get pretty specific, but it did it.  I stil think I can do a better job, as I know my collection, my population and current titles better.  But maybe there will come a day when that is a built in part of our circulation systems so we can make a request and it will use our circ data to do it for us.​

Additional minor thoughts:

• Digital plagiarism checkers are going to have to up their game. - There is already a tool for this called GPTZero.
• Eventually the computer will catch up.  Many of the AI programs currently include a note that their computer doesn’t include information more current than 2021.

When I played around with the AI writing bot, I thought about all of the things it could potentially help me with as a teacher or librarian.  It was fun to see what the program came up with and to evaluate where I can do just as good of a job or where the tool might be able to save me some time.

Things I Asked AI to “Do for me”
Write a lesson plan
Make a list of book recommendations
Write one minute book talks
Write an article called AI in school libraries
Create sample reading passages for classroom use
Check out the results here.

Overall, AI is a rapidly-evolving field that is sure to have a significant impact on libraries and librarians.  I think it is worth taking some time to play with one to see what it does and what kind of information is being generated, because it is going to get harder and harder to really differentiate between the humans and the machines doing the writing.  By staying informed and being proactive in preparing for these changes, we can ensure that we are well-equipped to serve the needs of our students and communities in the age of AI.

Does this strike a chord with you?  I would love to hear what you think. 

​Post your comment below or HERE on my IG reel about AI.

Articles for Additional Reading and Information (Summaries written by AI)

​https://www.weareteachers.com/ai-writing-tools-teachers/
The article from We Are Teachers discusses how AI writing tools can be useful for teachers in helping students with grammar, proofreading, and other language-related tasks.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-use-openai-chatgpt-text-generation-chatbot/?amp
The article from Digital Trends explains how to use OpenAI's ChatGPT text generation chatbot, which uses AI to generate human-like responses in a chat conversation.

https://time.com/6238781/chatbot-chatgpt-ai-interview/
The article from Time discusses ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that can carry on a conversation with a user in a way that is similar to a human interview.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/29/handwritten-essays-defeat-chatgpt/
The article from The Washington Post discusses how handwritten essays can still be effective despite the existence of AI writing tools like ChatGPT.

https://iris.ai/academics/7-ways-ai-changes-libraries/
The article from Iris.ai outlines how AI is changing libraries, including through the use of chatbots, recommendation systems, and automating tasks such as cataloging and data entry.

https://content.iospress.com/articles/information-services-and-use/isu190065
The article from Information Services and Use discusses the use of AI in libraries, including its potential to improve efficiency and user experience, as well as some of the challenges and ethical considerations that come with implementing AI in libraries.