FYI@Librarian: The first AI laboratory in an academic library @ University of Rhode Island (URI)

Monday, July 2, 2018

The first AI laboratory in an academic library @ University of Rhode Island (URI) - Where do libraries fit into all this?

Kim suggested several immediate ways in which AI has added to or improved library services:

Abstracting and indexing services are much faster and more accurate.
In information discovery and retrieval, a second discovery layer offers a wider range of answers to user queries. New products include Quartolio, a platform that plots connections across multiple research points, and Yewno, which finds connections the researcher may not have suspected.
Feature detection and content extraction, in which a neural network extracts data and predicts outcomes effectively, such as a project at the University of Rochester that conducted space assessment to support decision-making for operations, design, and service delivery.
Voice-user interface and chatbots, such as providing reference service through Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant.
Google’s Talk to Books, a website that attempts to answer user questions (“Where is the best place to go on Earth?”) by examining some 100,000 digital books.