Artificial intelligence chatbots in academic libraries: the rise of ChatGPT
Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo
Introduction
Academic libraries have grown to become an essential component of tertiary institutions due to the nature of the informational services they provide, which is at the heart of the tertiary education system. Some of these services include circulation, references, serial and electronic services. Behind the scene, they render technical services such as cataloguing, classification and collection development. All of these services are designed to provide library users with easy access to information that meets their everyday educational needs. However, librarians who are entrusted with providing these services are constrained in what they can accomplish. They may not be able to work 24 h a day and may become fatigued at times, leaving a gap to fill when they are not available. As a result, intelligent assistants are required to supplement their efforts in providing library services. One such intelligent assistant in modern times is artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
Chatbots in libraries are not a new concept. They have been around for a long time at libraries, with “Emma the Catbot” from Mentor Public Library in Ohio and “Pixel” from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries being two notable examples (McNeal and Newyear, 2013). AI chatbots have the potential to transform how libraries serve their patrons. These automated systems, which can simulate human- user conversations, may deliver rapid and correct answers to a wide range of topics, making them a useful assets for academic libraries wanting to improve the quality and efficiency of their services.
AI chatbots could assist to perform a variety of services, which would benefit research and scholarly communication (Kaushal and Yadav, 2022). It can assist
library patrons in accessing materials, place holds and completing other tasks at any time of day without having to wait for a librarian to be available. This is especially valuable for users who are unable to visit the library due to time limits or mobility concerns. It might also be useful for users who need to access library information late at night.
AI chatbots benefit not only patrons but also library staff by reducing workload and freeing up time for more complex tasks. Chatbots, by handling simple inquiries and tasks automatically, can free up librarians’ time to focus on providing more in-depth assistance to patrons who require it.
Language translation is another potential application for AI chatbots in libraries. Libraries can make their services more accessible to a wider audience by allowing patrons to communicate with the chatbot in their preferred language. This is especially important for libraries serving diverse communities or patrons who may not speak the local language fluently.
Rodriguez and Mune (2022)discovered that a university library can use existing tools to deploy a chatbot. An existing tool making waves today is ChatGPT (generative pretrained transformer), a type of self-learning chatbot, which was recently released and has attracted more than 1 million users in just one week after it was launched, leaving behind other popular online platforms such as Netflix, Facebook and Instagram in terms of adoption rates (Sler, 2022) and could potentially revolutionize the library. This is especially important given the limited use of chatbots in libraries (Sanjiet al., 2022).
Despite the plethora of potential benefits of AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT in libraries, there are some issues to consider, which this paper will explore. In some cases, patrons may prefer to interact with a human librarian
rather than an automated system. As a result, libraries must carefully consider the benefits and potential drawbacks of these systems, as well as strike the proper balance between automated and human assistance.
Artificial intelligence chatbots and types
Chatbots are goal-driven computer programs that use a variety of appropriate computing technologies to mimic and effect intelligent conversational behavior similar to humans. AI entails implementing concepts and algorithms from AI sub- arenas (such as Machine Learning, Knowledge Representation and so on) to achieve a certain level of learning capability and intelligence to achieve certain stated goal(s) with significant autonomy (Bagchi, 2020). As a result, an AI chatbot is a chat robot that has been programmed using AI, specifically natural language processing, to interact with humans via text format.
There are several types of chatbots, including rule-based chatbots, self- learning chatbots and hybrid chatbots.
Rule-based chatbots respond to questions by following a set of rules.
Conversations are flowcharted, allowing for few topic deviations but faster resolutions. They are frequently used as FAQ or knowledge base chatbots (Leah, 2022). Self-learning chatbots, on the other hand, are designed to improve their performance over time by learning from their interactions with users. Hybrids chatbots combine aspects of rule-based and self-learning strategies. To recognize particular user information kinds and create appropriate responses, they may use rules. However, they might also use Machine Learning to improve their performance over time and adapt to shifting user requirements (Weetech, 2023).
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ChatGPT: understanding the technology
ChatGPT is a cutting-edge language processing AI developed by OpenAI in November 2022, with a focus on usability and conversation (OpenAI, 2022). It is based on GPT-3.5, an improvement of GPT-3, one of the biggest models of this kind, trained with 175 billion parameters (Knox and Stone, 2011; Korngiebel and Mooney, 2021). It has been used in a number of applications, including chatbots and language translation, and it can produce writing that sounds like it was written by a human. The human-like text generated appears coherent and fluent, which makes it difficult to distinguish it from text written by humans (Clark et al., 2021).
The ability of ChatGPT to provide very cohesive and authentic-sounding responses to user input is one of its main advantages. This makes it a great option for chatbot programs that need to be able to converse with people in a manner that resembles that of a human.
ChatGPT can be used to create full conversations from scratch in addition to producing responses to user input.
This enables it to be used in a variety of chatbot applications, such as virtual assistants and customer care bots, among others. ChatGPT has grown in popularity as a tool for enhancing services and boosting productivity as it enters the academic library sector.
ChatGPT and academic libraries
Academic libraries are those found in higher education institutions, including colleges of education, polytechnics, universities, colleges for teacher preparation and the Institute of Aviation, among many more too numerous to list. They are intended to support the academic staff and other institution support staff in their roles as educators, learners, researchers and community developers (IGI Global, 2022). It is one of the campus’s informal learning places, and because of its appealing interior design and an array of useful areas, including cafes, lounges, learning spaces and conference rooms (Kim and Yang, 2022), patrons find it appealing to visit. Due to various reasons, not everyone can visit the
library, so ChatGPT can be useful in assisting users in such situations. One of the main ways ChatGPT can be used in academic libraries is through the creation of virtual assistants. These virtual assistants are capable of performing a wide range of functions, including guiding users through the library’s website and even helping with research. Academic libraries that use ChatGPT to enable these virtual assistants can assist patrons around-the- clock even when the physical library is closed. Overall, ChatGPT has the potential to assist academic libraries in providing fundamental services such as reference, collection development and cataloguing.
The reference service is one of the services provided by libraries.
Reference librarians provide reference services by instructing users how to use the library catalog to seek information resources on the library shelves, how to use online databases and how to apply the best information search technique for getting relevant and reliable information on the internet (Adetayo, 2021). In other words, reference librarians respond to inquiries from users. A recent study, however, found that AI Chatbots may complement the reference service by providing a reliable option for libraries to commence virtual assistance while also bringing a new dimension to virtual reference service (Panda and Chakravarty, 2022).
One of ChatGPT’s key features that enable this is its ability to produce very lifelike and diverse answers to user inputs. This is accomplished by using a big, pretrained transformer model that was trained on a vast data set of human dialogue. ChatGPT can provide highly relevant and interesting replies to user questions by exploiting a large amount of knowledge stored within this data set.
Students visiting academic libraries can use it to solve problems, write essays and receive formative comments on their work (Qadir et al., 2020;
Thunstrom, 2022). Although ChatGPT is not a search engine like Google Scholar (Google, 2022), its answer type of unique narrative responses allows for innovative use cases, such as functioning as a simulated reference librarian in a sort of reference transaction. The response to inquiries is so positive that a growing number of
experts predict that ChatGPT will soon replace Google (Friedman, 2022).
ChatGPT contains a variety of additional essential capabilities for chatbot creators in addition to the ability to generate responses. These capabilities include the ability to modify the model’s answer style and tone, as well as its ability to conduct standard chatbot duties like recognizing and reacting to user intent or controlling the conversation flow. By responding to user enquiries in a more believable way, ChatGPT has the potential to improve the user experience for library reference services. It might also be used to handle a lot of straightforward reference requests, reducing the burden of human librarians. A further service provided by reference librarians is the selective dissemination of information, which is a crucial value-added service because it allows librarians to inform users about the most recent research on specific topics, assisting them in staying on top of the so-called information explosion. In fact, it also allows librarians to stay current on their topics (UiTM, 2022). By recommending relevant content to users based on their profiles, ChatGPT might be used in the selective dissemination of information.
Collection development is described by the International Federation of Library Associations as the ongoing evaluation of the information needs of library patrons, using statistics, analysis and demographic predictions. This entails weeding the collection, designing new collections, replacing missing or damaged goods, reading reviews, keeping an eye out for the demands of your users and researching fresh and well-known authors and books (North Dakota State Library, 2022). For the development of library collections, ChatGPT might be applied in a number of ways. A data set of the library’s current holdings as well as details on its users and their interests might be used to train ChatGPT. Then, it may produce suggestions for new books that patrons of the library would find interesting.
ChatGPT could be used to generate lists of materials that the library should consider acquiring. This might be determined by the user’s interests, the library’s present collections and the general interests of the community.
Overall, ChatGPT has the ability to save time and money while also giving users
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access to a greater selection of materials that are customized to their interests
In the past, cataloging and classifying physical books and other library items needed a time-consuming and labor- intensive procedure that involved assigning topic headings and classification numbers to each item. This procedure aids in classifying and organizing the resources so that users may locate and use them more quickly. However, the growing amount of digital content and the need for more effective and precise cataloguing and classification methods have prompted the exploration of novel strategies, including the application of machine learning technologies like ChatGPT.
One possible use of ChatGPT in this context is copy cataloguing. Copy cataloging is the practice of modifying an existing bibliographic record rather than producing a new one from the start. OCLC is the principal source of cataloging copy in the USA and increasingly across the world (Folgerpedia, 2017). However, rather than having librarians review those sources during copy cataloguing, ChatGPT can assist in automatically creating subject headings and classification numbers for library holdings.
By providing ChatGPT with a library item’s title and other information, it may construct a list of appropriate subject headings and classification numbers based on its comprehension of the item’s content.
In the process of copy cataloguing, ChatGPT can be asked to explain the process, thereby serving also as a training tool.
Concluding remarks: challenges of ChatGPT to academic libraries
New technologies do not come without constraints or problems. This is also true with ChatGPT, despite its many advantages for academic libraries. It has the potential to result in the loss of library employment, misuse, inaccurate query response and poor comprehension.
Library job loss: One possible risk of GPT for academic libraries is that it may result in job loss and upheaval within the library profession because it can automate some functions now handled by library workers, such as cataloging and indexing. Some early ChatGPT adopters anticipate that it will eventually supplant various content-
creation jobs, including programmers, educators, playwrights and journalists (Lock, 2022).
Misuse of technology: If ChatGPT is not adequately monitored and controlled, it has the potential to be exploited to propagate misinformation or participate in other undesirable actions. Recently, it was discovered promoting misinformation about maritime law (Ruse, 2023).
Inaccurate query response: When interacting with the ChatGPT, it seems like you are talking to a knowledgeable person who is not above making errors (Sun, 2022). Although ChatGPT has been trained on a vast data set of human dialogue, it may nevertheless produce incorrect query responses during reference transactions.
Limited comprehension: Because ChatGPT is a language model, it may not be able to comprehend reference queries during transactions like a human librarian. It may struggle to deliver useful information on issues outside of its training data. It may be unable to answer more sophisticated or nuanced questions and lacks the capacity to grasp human emotions/
expressions.
ChatGPT has the potential to considerably benefit academic libraries by assisting in the automation and simplification of some operations, allowing employees to focus on more complicated and high-value jobs. However, libraries must carefully assess the possible risks and take proactive steps to limit the negative by developing clear standards on permissible and unacceptable usage of such technologies.
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Corresponding author
Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo can be contacted at: adebowale.adetayo@
adelekeuniversity.edu.ng
Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo (adebowale.adetayo@adelekeuniversity.
edu.ng) is based at Department of Library and Information Science, Adeleke University, Ede, Nigeria.
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