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Generative AI in Libraries (GAIL), Online

Throughout the past two years, we have been inundated with rhetoric about the potential of generative AI (GenAI) to transform our existence. While many LIS professionals are skeptical of the dystopian image of AI robots taking away librarian jobs, others are rightly concerned about the harms associated with GenAI technologies and the growing political and economic power of their creators. Others enthusiastically embrace the new possibilities GenAI opens up for their professional and personal practices, even while acknowledging their limitations. The tension between what we know about the questionable ethics of GenAI technologies and enthusiasm to integrate and promote GenAI in libraries leaves us with an unsettled feeling of cognitive dissonance, in which there is a mismatch between our own values and goals and those that are being promoted within the profession in relation to GenAI and what is often called "AI literacy."

We invite participants to join us in creating space to explore creative possibilities for more deeply interrogating the role of GenAI in libraries. Importantly, we see AI resistance—defined here as an active skepticism of the promises of GenAI and a rethinking of the uncritical embrace of it—as a necessary possible response. Our experiences have led us to embrace critical resistance as a strategy, and we invite attendees to honestly consider these concerns and dissonances with us. The four of us are brought together by our desire to name and interrogate the cognitive dissonances we are experiencing in this historical moment. As librarians, educators, and researchers committed to our own and our students’ ability to critically engage with the promises and harms surrounding GenAI, we will discuss the tensions around GenAI discourse and practice in our work, the feelings these tensions stir in us, and how they inform our thinking and our actions.

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Minneapolis, MN

During my first year as a full-time academic librarian, I tracked the number of emails I sent per day in a color-coded crochet scarf. The process gave me a chance to visually craft my personal data and honor the leap into a new career. It has made me extremely aware of work-life balance; for example, if I send an email on a day off, I crochet a row of white in contrast to the other colors. The poster will include research and discussion about visual and data literacy, the color key, and the scarf displayed for attendee viewing.

Academic Librarian Perspectives on ChatGPT, Online

There is a plethora of resources available to discover more about machine learning and Large Language Models (LLMs). When ChatGPT was released on November 30, 2022, there was an absolute storm in publications related to higher ed in which they mourned the death of the essay, predicted mass cheating, and other big claims. Some went as far as to ban the technology. As a first-year librarian, I see that this technology is undoubtedly going to shape my career; therefore, I have approached ChatGPT with a cautious curiosity. Shunning ChatGPT entirely is not the answer, but neither is an uncritical embrace. This talk will go over some basics, the potential use cases of ChatGPT, and ethical considerations we must think about as academic librarians. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy as a concept will also be touched upon, so that we can help our students navigate this new technology not only in higher ed, but in their lives moving forward.