Artificial Intelligence and Library Skills

Artificial Intelligence refers to the development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as recognizing speech, making decisions, and identifying patterns

Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that uses models to produce new content, including text, images, videos, or music. These models learn the patterns and structures of their training data and use this knowledge to generate similar, yet original, data.

Not all AI systems are created equal. They can be broadly categorized into two types: Narrow AI and Generative AI. 

Understanding Narrow AI

Narrow Artificial intelligence can also be defined as weak intelligence aimed at performing certain tasks for example facial recognition, weather analysis, playing chess or searching for content. It is specifically programmed to perform tasks.

They can only fulfil their assigned role by retrieving information from a specific database.

Systems based on narrow intelligence can perform and complete tasks faster than humans.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text, images, videos, audio, and even software code, based on the data it has been trained on. 

Generative AI models are trained on large datasets, learning the patterns and structures within the data. Once trained, these models can generate new content by predicting the next element in a sequence, such as the next word in a sentence or the next pixel in an image. 

As the number of embedded AI technologies increases within the software packages we commonly use, there is an increasing need to develop your awareness, digital skills and critical thinking to ensure that you approach these tools effectively and ethically, and without negatively impacting on the development of your own skills and knowledge.