Posts by Lydia Middleton

Skepticism and “Wow!” in Library AI by David Hurley I am suspicious of many claims about AI. The immense power of artificial intelligence is undeniable every time I ask my phone for directions, or search my photos using just the word “recipes” and find pictures of cookbook pages and handwritten note cards that do, in…

The Fine Line Between Exploration and Self-Destruction by Rachelle Brandel Before this institute, I, like most people, thought of AI as humanoid robots and super computers. So, when my idea of creating a program to help students improve search skills by comparing search queries to the subsequent chosen resource came to mind, it seemed relatively…

The IDEA Institute on AI is such a necessary resource for the library field by Trevor Watkins Prior to the pandemic in August 2019, I, on behalf of my research partners, presented a poster at the International Federation of Library Association and Institutions World Library and Information Congress in Athens Greece. The project, which had…

AI in library from learning to application by Gang Shao With the increasing computational capacity, AI and machine learning, particularly deep learning, are becoming leading technics and have more and more impacts in our daily life, from face recognition phone lock to security camera to the whole smart home systems, from learning information with big…

AI Communication Facilitation between Stakeholders by Martha Anderson Can AI facilitate communication between the organization’s internal and external stakeholders while managing change? Organizational restructuring is not necessarily new to libraries. However, creating a cohesive team and a unified message while managing change can be difficult. If we consider the additional challenges of the pandemic in…

Robots are headed out of Makerspaces and into the stacks by Dorothy Ogdon   Robots are automated machines usually intended to replace or lessen human effort in tasks. Cobots are automated machines designed to work collaboratively alongside humans. Twenty-one years past the start of the 21st century, robots and cobots of all kinds are present in libraries, as a popular feature of STEAM, STEM, and Makerspace activities.…

OK Google! write this blog post for me by Peter Hyun How should I start this blog post? Maybe I don’t need to start it at all… “Artificial intelligence today is more complex than ever before, and there’s a growing number of companies and research groups working on ways to make it more intelligent. One…

Automating born-digital archival description by Shelly Black Many digital humanities and grant-funded projects have involved the application of machine learning techniques to analyze and reveal new insights from the historical record. These efforts often involve many collaborators and large collections. Can special collections and archives use these same tools to improve description, and consequently access,…

AI for All Children – For a More Hopeful Future by Julie Marie Frye Nearly five years ago, I observed Jamie McQueen, introducing Whitby School 7th grade learners to Boston Analytics’ Atlas during his Language & Literature course. Learners were captivated with Atlas’s technology and began reimagining a future where artificial intelligence (AI) ran the world. Jamie’s See, Think, Wonder on Atlas…