Resistance, Rebellion, Refusal: 7 Tips from Librarians for Navigating “AI”
This is a special conference-themed blog contribution from Michelle Reed, Hayley Park, Justin White, and Mike Nason
Communal resistance to artificial systems
Join the Resistance Today and Tomorrow
Librarians on your campus provide space, resources, and programming to your community. We are often at the forefront of technological change, and we sit at what can be an uncomfortable nexus between user expectations for support with new technologies (as well as administrative pressure to adopt, support, and promote the latest trends) and concerns about those same technologies. Large language models (LLM), or generative AI (GenAI), have infiltrated our work lives, disrupting collection development and contract negotiations as well as reference support and instruction services. Meanwhile, a growing number of librarians have expressed concern that the uncritical uptake of these artificial systems may harm our communities. Here, four technoskeptic librarians offer action-oriented strategies to connect with and build on the work of the library resistance in your communities and beyond.
Find your people. As you’ll hear throughout the Civics of Tech conference, not everyone is all in on “AI.” There are people on your campus and in your library who want to resist artificial systems. Even if you're unsure about your library’s approach to GenAI, libraries love to partner–and you could bring programming around critical resistance against GenAI to the library to build community! What you can do: Reach out to your subject librarian or a scholarly communication librarian to start a conversation.
Confront AI vendor slop in collections. AI vendor slop is low-quality AI-generated material that is not specifically selected by librarians for their collections but rather makes its way in via e-book bundles or large streaming platforms such as Hoopla. Vendor slop (or “slurry”) is often added to library collections without the knowledge of librarians, and over time, it makes up a growing percentage of materials in a collection. What you can do: Share news stories about AI-generated slop with your local libraries. And if you encounter a resource that appears to be AI-generated in your library’s collection, report it to Library Futures in support of our ongoing vendor accountability initiatives.
Be the change in vendor contracts. One effective way to resist the harms of GenAI technology is to advocate for strong protections in vendor contracts. As library vendors increasingly incorporate AI-powered services into their products, adopting clear campus and library-level policies to guide terms of use that protect users’ rights and hold vendors accountable is a must for any AI-resistance toolkit. What you can do: Ask about your institution’s AI policy and advocate for the review of AI-related terms of use. Shape the national landscape by applying for Library Future’s Research Network to co-create a model AI policy for libraries.
Publish with caution and intention. There is no shortage of retractions stemming from GenAI use in publications. Keep your eyes peeled for publishers who have policies/guidelines about AI posted. Keep track of the tools you use and, if they leverage an LLM or similar technology, disclose it. On a more sinister note, some publishers are now leveraging LLM-based tools for peer review that "[automate] editorial quality checks" and can perform desk rejections without a human ever seeing your work. This kind of AI-based, peer review outsourcing presents major ethical concerns, from the amplification of racial, gender, or cultural bias in existing literature to broader implications of labor, intellectual property, privacy, and transparency. What you can do: Check publisher policies for AI disclosure guidelines. Before you submit to a publication, do a quick poke around news, blogs, and publisher websites for information about how they might be using GenAI in peer review.
Consider labor issues and workloads. Contrary to the promise of freeing workers from work itself, an Upwork report found that GenAI integration actually increased workloads. Speak with your coworkers about your concerns that artificial systems will increase workload and job duties. The labor impact of GenAI is especially relevant within union environments, but it can be a discussion point in any situation where the implementation of artificial systems is affecting daily workloads, increasing inequality, or decreasing morale. What you can do: Share resources with your coworkers about the increased labor demands of using artificial systems. Speak with your union representative about any clauses in your contract that deal with technology implementation.
Put companies under the microscope. If you're concerned about the ethics, safety, privacy, or labor implications of the software and platforms you use, take the time to snoop around and get a read on the people who make it. EdTech, in particular, is home to some problematic organizations. From legal challenges and data breaches to acquisitions and IPOs, keeping an eye on reporting about your industry from trusted outlets can help you make sure you're not recommending tools to students where they're the product. What you can do: Look for open-source alternatives to larger, for-profit tools. Review governance and ownership of the platforms/software you use in your work. Think critically about what kinds of organizations you want to support.
Be human. As more corporations slap AI labels on anything with code and the U.S. government ramps up an action plan to “win” the race to “global dominance in artificial intelligence,” it is more important than ever to raise our voices in critical dissent of the ill-informed and coercive narrative that has catapulted artificial systems into our inboxes, file storage, discovery systems, and nearly every element of our daily lives without our consent. Gather your people and build bigger communities by connecting with other humans. Artificial systems undermine human connections, but libraries are powerhouses of what it means to be human—with collections of human knowledge and buildings filled with humans ready to help other humans. What you can do: Take your power back by bringing this conversation to your colleagues, even if you aren’t sure how they’ll respond. You may find that you aren’t alone.
Check out our Zotero library for our list of references and related readings from the library resistance.