AI and the Public; Library Journal, November 11, 2024

 Matt Enis, Library Journal; AI and the Public

"In a recent leadership brief, the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) explains that “technology has always played a role in spreading misinformation and disinformation, but the advancement of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, has ushered in an era of unprecedented expansion in the volume, sophistication, and believability of falsified information.” Citing a report by NewsGuard, the brief notes that websites with AI-generated false articles have increased by more than 1,000 percent since May 2023. Separately, the brief cites a testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum by Jessica Brandt, a policy director at the Brookings Institution, which describes AI “deepfake” technologies—which generate replica audio or video of a person’s voice or likeness—as a significant misinformation threat.

“We’re really in an unprecedented era,” Brooks Rainwater, president and CEO of ULC, tells LJ. Misinformation “is just going to be even more and more pervasive. And this is where public libraries come in as that trusted resource for community members, being able to talk with those community members…. As people have those conversations about what’s real and what’s not real, I do feel that [libraries] hold a unique position moving forward.”

The brief also connects the problem of misinformation with the rise in social isolation—when real-life social connections erode and people spend more time online, they often become more vulnerable to misinformation and extreme viewpoints.

“One of the ways to counter that is humanizing those conversations,” Femi Adelakun, director of research and data for ULC, tells LJ. “Public libraries are well positioned to do that. You’re more likely to argue over a topic online and never get to a resolution. When you come together in person, [you can] actually have a discussion.”"