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Looking Ahead to Artificial Intelligence in Libraries
David Ratledge
When one experiences Siri on an Apple device, Alexa on an Amazon device, or Google Assistant on a Google device, it appears that the age of artificial intelligence (AI) is dawning. Note, however, this is not the full-blown type of AI where a machine is self-aware and able to think independently for itself in a way that is indistinguishable from a human. Instead, this is more accurately described as AI-like. There are many physical and programmatic limitations that would likely not exist in a fully artificially intelligent machine, but within their limitations they can seem very human-like and perform many useful functions.
It is hard to look at this type of rudimentary AI technology and not think about how it will advance and what it will mean for libraries. Libraries and librarians deal in facts, and AI and AI-like technologies are very well equipped to handle these kinds of inquiries. Imagine a library user approaching a...