AI Augmented Library – Leading Institutional Generative Artificial Intelligence Delivery

Since ChatGPT has taken over the world by storm in late 2022, Generative AI (GenAI) has been a topic of high intrigue, excitement, and anxiety in higher education institutions. The human-like content generation capabilities and the conversational interfaces of GenAI tools have invited philosophical and practical debates on the ethics, biases, practices, and productivity promises across research, education, and civic engagement missions of the Universities. GenAI challenges the current norms of learning and assessment design in institutions, along with potentially creating major opportunities for workflow and task optimisations. It also creates an opportunity for libraries to position themselves as leaders in GenAI delivery.

Adoption and governance of GenAI in higher education institutions has been a difficult task. The fast-changing landscape means that institutional governance and regulation processes can’t keep up with the pace, and adoption requires significant levels of staff upskilling. In addition, the simple to use interface and the cross-cutting implications of GenAI open new opportunities for owning digital transformation across the institution, moving beyond the traditional IT boundaries. The role of libraries here is both fundamental and transformational, particularly in relation to a holistic approach towards GenAI, considering the challenges, biases, EDI issues, and impact that the technological advances bring with them.

This presentation will provide a case study of how University of Leeds Libraries have positioned themselves as Library AI leaders in the UK through a series of steps. The presentation will initially focus on the outcomes of a research report, which was commissioned by the library called “Looking towards a brighter future: the potentiality of AI and digital transformations to library spaces” and the impact it has had so far in how the library operates. It will then highlight how the library was crucial in the formation of two institutional working groups on AI in research and education, namely Working Group on AI Technology in Research (WAITR) and Working Group on AI in Student Education (WAISE). The working groups have already delivered key outcomes, in particular the policy for use of GenAI for staff, co-production of GenAI student guidance, and the conception of the first GenAI summit at Leeds. The presentation will also highlight some key lessons learnt in this area, in particular relating to the change of pace in GenAI developments against the governance arrangements for GenAI delivery and the approach towards AI literacies and AI experimentation. It will also focus on how the library has positioned itself as a major entity in the GenAI governance, bringing EDI, ethics, and user experience as key focus areas of discussion. The presentation will provide a roadmap for GenAI delivery in the library, and how it has led to a rethink of the structures through which we deliver digital services and initiatives. The presentation will also cover how we are partnering with other leading and like-minded libraries to harness the full potential of GenAI, for now and in the future.