ing all this. If organisations like open AI and Microsoft are obligated to show you the carbon output of your AI usage, that might help people make smarter choices in terms of when to use it and when it’s not necessary.”
The information vacuum plays into what he sees as the “the goal (of the AI owners), which is to make it a ubiquitous part of life, so you stop questioning the decisions that are being made around it. They want you to get to a point where organisations say they’re implementing AI and it feels completely natural. You’ll say “Well, of course you are”, you won’t ask “Why do you need to?”
Libraries targeted?
The anthropomorphic language around AI might explain why librarians feel targeted but Gordon says “It’s not something to take personally. Information rich repos- itories will simply have more requests because there is more data to train on. But while libraries aren’t being specifically targeted, it doesn’t mean they aren’t specif- ically disadvantaged.
“For private companies, yes, their data is very valuable, but they exist to extract profit. For libraries a massive part of the reason they exist is the data and the knowledge they hold and the ease with which it can be shared. So libraries might
‘‘
AI is something to be understood rather than scared of. Library and information professionals have always been at the forefront of harnessing technological advancements... – Gordon Johnstone
find themselves at a disadvantage if all the data, knowledge, and academic research is taken out of their control and put into AI models.”
“When it comes to the risks that data scraping poses, I don’t think you’re ever going to be able to remove it entirely, but I think it’ll be a case of mitigation as opposed to a complete defensive plan. There may be systems out there that are completely safe, but I don’t imagine libraries have that kind of budget. It will be a case of trying to maintain best prac- tice, but I don’t specifically know what that’s going to be.”
Library role “Artificial intelligence isn’t new, but the scale of the impact it’s having on the world is. While its risks are well documented and often discussed, the various tech- nologies that make up the AI ecosystem could have huge benefits to the library
and information sectors so long as they are implemented and procured respon- sibly and ethically. It is incumbent on all of us in the sector to be AI-literate to understand the provenance of the tools we’re using and ensure they adhere to the privacy and safety guidelines of our organisations. “AI is something to be understood rather than scared of. Library and information professionals have always been at the forefront of harnessing technological advancements and this new era we’re entering is likely to be the same. In many ways it simply represents the continuation of the move towards the automation of mundane tasks which previously required human intervention. When used respon- sibly it can save you time, money, and effort in many aspects of your job, but it’s imperative to remember the core tenet of how AI works – if you put rubbish in, you’ll get rubbish out. IP
Autumn 2025
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