Public libraries and their role in raising awareness about AI and fostering inclusive civic engagement: Current practices and future development

Artificial intelligence (AI) could drive both positive and negative impacts on society, prompting recent studies to advocate for a more inclusive approach to AI initiatives aimed at amplifying benefits and mitigating drawbacks. In local communities, public libraries are often deemed to have crucial potential in engaging diverse targeted audiences with educational and informational needs. Given this context, this paper aims to investigate the innovative programs, services, and strategies implemented by public libraries with the goal of raising awareness about AI and fostering inclusive civic engagement in AI initiatives in their communities. In order to achieve our goal, we searched libraries’ websites and identified 105 AI-related events held by libraries around the US and Canada. We classified these practices under five categories aimed at raising awareness about AI and building competencies related to AI: lectures and podcasts, hands-on workshops, seminars and conversations, exhibitions, and makerspaces. We also acknowledged that most of these initiatives take place in collaboration. However, we also found that there is no particular focus on inclusive AI and/or marginalized communities and that public libraries could therefore expand their role but providing spaces of community participation particularly targeted at individuals with diverse socio-economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.