INSIGHT ‘‘ President’s View CILP Conference 2025


It was a pleasure to give the Presidential address at CILIP Conference 2025. This article is an abbreviated version of that speech.


I


T’S 50 years since James Burke asked “What happens when an accelerated rate of innovation becomes too much for the average person to handle, and what this means for individual power, liberty, and privacy?” 1 As information professionals we are beginning to glimpse answers to these questions.


Technological advances While the burden of information overload is hardly new, navigating today’s information-rich environment is challenging. The profession has always responded by providing up-to-date information resources, delivering effective services, introducing automation, and developing further roles. Now we have remarkable opportunities to bring new technologies into our services. It’s scary – yet there have never been enough of us, never enough resource to serve all the people we would want to reach. That’s why information professionals are incorporating chatbots, mobile apps and XR into the library experience – enriching and evolving services, as we always have.2 Yet, what may Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean for our jobs? CILIP’s research concluded that some jobs will disappear, many will change, and many others will be created.3


The


question isn’t how fast technology evolves, but how we intentionally shape its trajectory to serve the interests of everyone in society, especially those facing disadvantages. It’s vital we stay abreast of innovations in our industry – and not ‘simply’ AI. Breakthroughs in quantum computing are on the horizon; potentially a game-changer for library operations.4 The future of AI will be about augmenting human capabilities. Researchers have identified the following human strengths that complement its shortcomings and make organisations successful: 5


1. Empathy enables us to create meaningful connections; 2. Presence and networking foster collaboration and innovation;


3. Creativity, humour and improvisation remain uniquely human abilities;


4. Hope, vision, leadership and perseverance embody the human spirit;


5. People can navigate the nuance of opinion, judgment and ethics. AI struggles to grasp concepts like accountability.5


Ethics


It is where ethics take a backseat that AI crosses the line from being a helpful tool to becoming a threat. Human bias taints research, human ignorance fuels misinformation, humans inject disinformation. Algorithms are delivering all of these on steroids. However, we are


Autumn 2025 trusted6


– a rare asset – and our practice is underpinned by the ethical principles and the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base that define us as a profession. As we help people develop AI literacy, we build on extensive experience of teaching information skills.


Impact


Opening doors to learning and opportunity, we make a profound difference to people’s lives.


Promoting the evidence of our impact is a theme of my Presidential year. Yes, there is much to do but rest assured our advocacy work has reach. At the Carnegies, authors praised the work of librarians. In the House of Lords, one peer after another struggled to compress their love of libraries into Just a Minute. In Westminster Hall, one MP after another testified to the impact of librarians on their lives and careers. These influencers know that #LibrariesChangeLives. Our recent CILIP Employer Partner forum spotlighted evaluations of British Library Business and IP Centres and of health libraries, reporting against ‘the bottom line’. I have signposted evaluations of public libraries in previous columns. I encourage you to draw on this evidence, working with others to sing out our story as advocates for the profession, and for CILIP too.


Leadership


Advocacy is a core leadership skill. The opportunity to be influential extends far beyond colleagues in managerial posts. It is volunteers who take a leading role in CILIP communities who keep the profession at the top of our game.


Leadership is about building strong connections, influencing, using a toolbox of trusted techniques. There will be more on Leadership in CILIP Learn when it is launched next year. In our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world, it’s essential for the profession to be a powerful, positive influence in the present, and into the future.


I urge you to use your influence. Take the lead to shape the library and information services of today and tomorrow. IP


l You can read the full speech at https://tinyurl.com/CILIPPresSpeech25.


References 1. Accelerating change, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_change


2. What industry leaders predict about the future of libraries. Pressreader, 2025. https://letstalk.pressreader.com/future-of-libraries-report/


3. Research report: The impact of AI, machine learning, automation and robotics on the information profession, CILIP, 2021 www.cilip.org.uk/page/researchreport


4. Babajani, A. Quantum Computing: A Game-Changer for Libraries and Information Centers. InfoSCience Trends, 4 May 2024. www.isjtrend.com/article_195587_ba72fb82975d87f7f9d5c655ab9b8825.pdf


5. Eastwood, B. These human capabilities complement AI’s shortcomings, MIT Management Sloan School, June 10 2025. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/these-human-capabilities- complement-ais-shortcomings


6. Ipsos Veracity Index 2023: Trust in professions survey. Dec 2023. www.ipsos.com/sites/ default/files/ct/news/documents/2023-12/ipsos-trust-in-professions-veracity-index-2023-charts.pdf.


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 17


Opening doors to learning and opportunity, we make a profound difference to people’s lives.


Sue Lacey Bryant is CILIP President.


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