Looking toward the next few weeks, my eye caught on weeks five, when we will be talking about AI and will be reading/watching AI generated content, and week six when we’ll talk about digitizing sources. The first one has raised my hackles a little, as I have a hard time (as an artist especially) feeling neutral about AI in a lot of newer iterations (thinking mostly about things like AI generative imagery), but I do want to learn more about it and keep my mind open. It also makes me nervous as a librarian to think about unwittingly providing patrons with AI generated content, as there are already AI books being sold on Amazon – often without any indication that they are generated with AI. I’m curious to see if my views on it change in the course of discussing it in this class.

Example of what I believe is an AI generated image on the cover of a picture book I found while looking for Christmas gifts for my young nephews. The listing, found on Amazon, does not give any indication that the images, at the very least, are generated. (Click the image to see the listing).
Another example, from the same seller, of a book with AI generated imagery. Like the yellow book, the image seems to have come from a generative image software. (Click the image to see the listing).

In terms of digitization of content, working as a librarian makes this interesting to me because my job centers around access to information for the community. I love that so many resources are being digitized and made accessible to wider audiences, and I’m excited to learn more about specific topics and the ways they are being presented, and how that might apply to my work.