“Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” how artificial intelligence will impact libraries

This is the second of a two-part series on artificial intelligence (AI). The first column summarized some of the basic concepts necessary to understand AI and why recent developments indicate that it is poised to radically transform an array of emerging technologies.

This column will assume some basic knowledge of AI, to more fully explore how this technology is likely to impact libraries in the future in the areas of search, educational technology and logistics.

At its core, AI is a group of technologies that attempts to enable computers to solve problems in more dynamic ways than they previously have been able to do. Often, these efforts are conceptualized as replicating human intelligence in their functionality, even if they often use radically different underlying methods.

One key difference is that computers have inherent advantages over humans in absorbing and processing certain types of data. As a result, what can be done once a computer is capable of making more complex inferences can be truly remarkable, particularly when AI is used to empower humans in accomplishing otherwise tedious or difficult tasks.