Transforming Library Services with Artificial Intelligence: A New Era of Automation

• Author(s): Shantha P
• Paper ID: 1707271
• Page: 1258-1272
• Published Date: 22-02-2025
• Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
• Publisher: IRE Journals
• e-ISSN: 2456-8880
• Volume/Issue: Volume 8 Issue 5 November-2024

Abstract

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an exciting change process that presents a new era of automation, changing traditional library operations, user interactions and the management of information. This research investigates the theoretical and conceptual basis for the use of AI technologies in?libraries that is, achieving enhanced library efficiency, better library system end-user performance, and advanced knowledge management through AI technologies. AI implements natural language processing (NLP), machine learning algorithms, and chatbots to disrupt traditional library systems by facilitating automatic cataloging,?advanced search features, and improved data analytics for resource management. It also studies the impact of automated services based on AI on library service personnel, stressing that the nature of library work is changing, and new?skills are required in the field of data science, training to manage automated systems, and ethics in AI. Bottom Line Up Front Conceptually, this paper builds on?the post-humanism, technological determinism, and the human-users and automated system interaction perspectives, suggesting that AI in libraries serves to instrument the efficiency of operation but also that its actualization alters the epistemic basis of access and dissemination of information. Within this sphere of debate, the article critically assesses current applications of AI and the implications they may have for the library field, ranging from automated reference services, and predictive analytics for resource allocation, to AI-assisted digitization of collections; all of which are also fraught with ethical challenges about data privacy, algorithmic?bias and the displacement of human labor through the use of AI technologies. According to recent statistics from the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), AI technologies have been integrated by more than 60% of academic libraries with?significant growth in AI-based user interfaces and content delivery systems. Although the report does caution against an?over-reliance on AI, suggesting that libraries must retain the human touch in service provision where emotional intelligence, ethical decision-making and contextual judgement are required. This article contextualizes AI in a postcolonial fashion to argue that AI is not, in fact, the leveler of access to information it is often trumpeted to be, and that the wide-scale adoption of AI which seems so inevitable does require some critical examination of the?power relations and possible inequities it might generate. This study is meant to be a conceptual framework exploring the transformative potential of AI as?a means of library support and its possible dull edge which could be a potential harm and guiding us towards an inclusive, ethical, and user-centered tomorrow in automated library services as well as library systems.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Library Automation, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Knowledge Management, Ethical Considerations in AI, Post-Humanism

Citations

IRE Journals:
Shantha P "Transforming Library Services with Artificial Intelligence: A New Era of Automation" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 8 Issue 5 2024 Page 1258-1272

IEEE:
Shantha P "Transforming Library Services with Artificial Intelligence: A New Era of Automation" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 8(5)