Generative AI and library skills

The terms AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Generative AI (GenAI) are often used interchangeably but it is worth being aware that they are not the same thing, particularly if you are undertaking an assignment or piece of research which has restrictions on the use of GenAI, or you need to decide whether you need to acknowledge your use of a GenAI tool as part of your research process.

• What is AI?
• What is GenAI?

In broad terms, AI refers to technology which achieves tasks normally associated with being undertaken by human beings. It has been around in many forms for decades. Many applications of AI utilise algorithms to analyse data or make decisions or predictions based on patterns in that data. In some cases they are able to learn from this and change what they do based on what they have learned.

An example in relation to the library research process is where search results in an online resource are presented by order of relevance, or you are presented with suggestions for other results that might interest you based on your search history. Search tools use AI to determine the results that may be most relevant based on patterns, such as frequency of words.

Generative AI (GenAI) is a specific type of AI that can generate seemingly new or original content, in response to a prompt, which can normally be inputted using natural language. Examples of content which can be generated include text, images, audio, video, computer code and deepfake technology, where computer-generated images or videos which look like real, identifiable people are generated. Access to generative AI systems, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), which generate new content in written form using predictions based on data on which they are trained, has changed our use of AI.