AI Tools and Their Impact on Learning

Like many library database collections, mine is centered around EBSCO. We have 28 different EBSCO databases for students to search within EBSCOhost Web, so any changes there have a big impact, and EBSCO has begun adding AI features to its products. There is a new “AI-Assisted Search” option that uses AI to enhance student search results. The latest try by EBSCO to have a Google-like search.

While that is interesting in itself, the features I’m more inclined to discuss are the AI Insights and Ask AI Features. Both of these offer enticing benefits to researchers while also having serious possible downsides for student learning.

Clicking the AI Insights link at the bottom of an article causes a summary of the article to be generated. The summary consists of four or five bullet points that cover key parts of the article. One would hope that these results are accurate because by integrating AI within our library collections we run the risk of allowing in the same inaccurate AI generate information we are trying to warn the public about. Libraries could become synonymous with “AI slop” if our offerings aren’t held to a high standard. I also can’t help but worry that students will avoid reading entire articles and instead rely on summaries. Real learning takes more than a few sentences. It takes some time for a new idea to cast its spell on you.

The AI Ask feature is more exciting. It allows the user to ask AI questions about the article itself. Is the methodology sound? What was the conclusion? How big is the sample size? I find this more beneficial to learning in that it requires the user to think actively to ask questions about the article. The AI becomes like a tutor explaining the article to a student. Of course, this does allow the student to bypass learning how to read complex texts. And the concerns about accuracy remain. Convenience has its price.

These new tools offer the same tradeoffs as other AI tools, convenience at the cost of trustworthiness. The possible replacement of human potential with AI. EBSCO allows these features to be turned on or off. Despite my misgivings mentioned above, I’ve decided to leave them on for now. It’s hard to resist the possibilities they bring.