Embracing ChatGPT: Implications of Emergent Language Models for Academia and Libraries

ABSTRACTChatGPT is a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that has been gathering significant attention since its release at the end of 2022. There are many reasons for the onslaught of discussion in the news media and academia, but principal among them is the fact that ChatGPT produces seemingly believable, coherent content with superhuman speed and efficiency, from creating computer code to penning a college-level essay. ChatGPT and similar technologies are improving by the day, and will only become more pervasive. Librarians and other information professionals need to understand this AI’s uses and limitations, and, when appropriate, must adjust their practices to reflect the reality of easy-to-use AI tools that are accessible to the masses. This breakthrough technology may require educational institutions to change the way they approach information literacy, adjust teaching practices and assignments, and update honor codes. Libraries may see impacts on reference practices, collection development, and metadata creation and transformation. Those who are able to embrace and innovate with the technology may bring efficiencies and value to their institutions.KEYWORDS: ChatGPTchatbotsartificial intelligencelanguage modelsdisruptive technologygenerative artificial intelligence Column Editor: Edward M. Corrado, Associate University Librarian, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA ecorrado@ecorrado.us .Editor’s Note: The “Trending Tech Services” column examines current developments along with emerging and future trends involving technology and its impact on the technical operations of modern libraries and information centers. In this issue’s column, we look at ChatGPT and how it may impact libraries and the broader academic community. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor at ecorrado@ecorrado.us. Please include “TSQ submission” in the subject line of the e-mail.Column Editor: Edward M. Corrado, Associate University Librarian, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA ecorrado@ecorrado.us .Editor’s Note: The “Trending Tech Services” column examines current developments along with emerging and future trends involving technology and its impact on the technical operations of modern libraries and information centers. In this issue’s column, we look at ChatGPT and how it may impact libraries and the broader academic community. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor at ecorrado@ecorrado.us. Please include “TSQ submission” in the subject line of the e-mail.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1. Author’s note: If users ask ChatGPT about its ability to compose in various languages, they are likely to get an answer similar to this one, generated on February 4, 2023:“ChatGPT has been trained on a diverse range of texts in many languages, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. The quality of its responses in these languages varies and depends on the amount of training data it has seen in each language.”“In general, ChatGPT is best at composing in the languages it has been most exposed to during its training, such as English. The quality of its responses in other languages may not be as high as in English, and there may be errors or inconsistencies in its language generation.”“If you have a specific language in mind, it might be best to try asking some questions in that language to see how well ChatGPT responds.”2. Some of the current hallmarks of AI writing are also characteristic of writing composed in a language not native to the writer – such as essays penned by English language learners attending universities in the United States.3. There are dangers, however, in students supplanting the valuable cognitive work of their own proofreading and revision, and the valuable work of writing center tutors, with AI processes. As one writing center director cautions, “Writing, rewriting and revision work. Students: don’t rob yourself of the chance to understand – and expand – your own brain” (Munemo, 2023, para. 14).4. Prompt courtesy of Daniel Gregorio.5. When asked to provide a source for this article, for example, ChatGPT recommended “The impact of Artificial Intelligence on Library and Information Science: A systematic review of the literature’ by Simone K. A. Tuulse in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology”—an article that would, indeed, have been helpful, if it existed.