This post is by Drew Feeney, our Public Libraries Representative
Like everyone in every area of life at the moment (it seems so anyway), the advent and proliferation of generative AI platforms and their increasing adoption as go-to methods for all manner of digital engagement has left me feeling a little overwhelmed and struggling to catch up with (and even comprehend) the possibilities these bring. I’ve been trying my best to get up to speed here, but still have loads of burning questions such as: how does AI actually work? Is it ethical to use in my working life? How far will the technology really take us, and what might be the consequences of this? The last few months in particular have had me pondering: how can I best equip myself to understand and utilise such tools of potentially limitless reach and likely profound impact?
Quite evidently this is the key informatic issue of our age for many of us too, and with much political capital currently being expended on driving these AI technologies further into all facets of contemporary life, the attendant issue of developing critical AI literacy alongside this technological explosion is now very much foregrounded in the thoughts and operational plans of civic and cultural institutions across society.
AI impact on public libraries
For public libraries in particular, their continued centrality as community hubs and facilities places them in a unique position to foster and support these developments, often working as they do with individuals and communities possessing little in the way of existing digital literacies. For decades now public libraries have been at the forefront of digital literacy support at this community level, and at the dawn of the AI-age they find themselves not only still enacting this pivotal role but also navigating these new AI technologies and their potential impact on their services and users. Extending these ideas further and begging the question therefore from a critical literacy perspective – how then can public libraries support the development of AI literacy – and thus foster skills for engagement in a wider world moving increasingly toward such technologies – for their community audiences and attendant users? Is there even still a role for such institutions in this new generative era?
The need for AI literacy
A recent report by the Good Things Foundation provides an excellent guide towards developing AI literacies for people with little or no digital skills within community settings such as public libraries. The report contextualises the many issues at play within the large-scale societal adoption of AI resources that we are seeing at the moment, and offers a roadmap to developing critical holistic skills in this area particularly for those already operating at a digital deficit. Specifically – and most crucially perhaps – it finds that ‘digital literacy and media literacy are precursors to AI literacy’; this is to say that ‘people are more open to learn and less fearful of AI if they already have basic digital and critical skills’. This point might seem obvious but it is hugely important – it outlines that in order for any AI literacy provision to be effective, it must be underpinned by the type of critical digital skills that public libraries have for decades excelled at promoting and developing. Foundational digital and critical literacy skills, the development of which are routinely offered and expertly provided by our public libraries, must already be in place if engagement with newer AI literacies is to be meaningful, productive and sustainable in turn. Without the firm foundations of critical digital, media and information literacies the development of any new AI literacy provision is thus exponentially more difficult and much less likely to take root, particularly within our communities where such digital skill levels are already low or indeed not prevalent at all.
Critical digital, media and information literacy skills are crucial now more than ever
This all leads me full circle and back to the questions on AI literacy as outlined above: how can we best equip ourselves to understand AI and to utilise its potential to profoundly reshape our contemporary world? Our public libraries – as they so often do – have readymade answers here: only by fostering provision of sustainable critical digital, media and information literacy skills will subsequent plans for developing AI literacies really come into their own. These foundational literacy skills are immeasurably important, and it is ever-more vital that our public libraries continue to play an active role in their development within community-led settings. Without these critical literacy building blocks being place our present road to AI-integration across society will be a much bumpier one, particularly for our communities who are already most at risk of digital inequalities and deficits. Our public libraries are therefore vitally important if today’s – and tomorrow’s – questions of AI literacy are to be sustainably addressed and critically answered.