The Role of AI in our Community

Is this image real or is it AI-generated? An interactive display at the library poses the question to visitors with a new challenge each week.

Throughout 2025, we are taking a deep dive into how artificial intelligence (AI) is present in our daily lives. Together, we'll explore the opportunities and perils associated with this technology and how it’s impacting everything from our education to healthcare to the workplace.

One expert we are tapping for this series is professor Davis Schneiderman of Lake Forest College. Schneiderman recently provided some thoughtful answers to our initial questions about AI:

Q: Why should our library patrons be paying attention to the advances in AI?

A: AI is already paying attention to your patrons! Understanding these technologies helps us make informed choices about which AI tools to use and how to use them safely and effectively.

While generative AI is now visible to many people, AI technologies are already nearly ubiquitous. From the recommendations in our streaming services to how we receive information to how a loan application might be decided, AI is already making decisions that affect our daily lives. While newer applications such as ChatGPT will challenge us to adapt to their possible uses, it would be a mistake to think the future has only appeared in a sudden gust of historical and technological wind. 

Q: How do you anticipate AI might impact education? 

A: The impact of AI is significant and ranges from chatbots to predictive analytics to personalized tutor-bots to automated evaluation tools. In addition, AI tools are already used to summarize books, generate study guides, and even write novels. While these tools can enhance learning and creativity, they also raise important questions about authorship, originality, and the future of human creativity.

Each use case comes with a series of ethical and, in some cases, existential questions: What is the role of an effective educator? What does it mean to plagiarize? What does “good writing” mean in a world where machines can instantly produce “good writing”? And all of this ignores potential longer-term interactions between biology and technology that may impact how we learn and “store” information.

Q: What are your biggest ethical concerns when using AI?

The most significant concern is that each tiny ethical question raised by any AI application will, over time, require us to consistently reconsider what it means to be human. Our values change over time, and we are on the verge of significant social change that may test some of those most deeply held values. 

This means that we need to consider, for instance, the ethics of using generative AI at the same time we consider what it means that generative AI exists with its often astounding capabilities. As researchers like Joy Buolamwini have demonstrated, AI systems can perpetuate and amplify existing societal biases, particularly affecting marginalized communities.

​Libraries are, of course, ideally suited to help the community explore both AI’s potential and its limitations. We need equitable access to these technologies while we foster critical discussions about their impact on different segments of our society. 

Upcoming AI Programs at the Library

• April 29: The AI Revolution is Now [SOLD OUT]
• May 1: AI Book Discussion: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick [SOLD OUT]
• May 13: AI for Business
• June 11: The Possibilities and Perils of AI