Conference Agenda

This workshop welcomes anyone interested in the challenges and joys of teaching and learning AI in the context of libraries, archives and museums.

The workshop is hosted by AI4LAM's Teaching and Learning Working Group. The group has been active since August 2020 and aims to facilitate knowledge-building, reaching all members and stakeholders within and across GLAM and related organizations who may be impacted by AI technologies.

Training and learning activities are important vehicles to foster community building, to seed collaborations and to generate much needed discussions around the implementation of AI in GLAMs. In the past five years, the working group has reviewed available resources for teaching and learning AI, evaluated existing training needs in GLAMs and explored pedagogical approaches and delivery mechanisms.

Two recent developments prompt us to create space for discussing the communities needs for teaching and learning at the AI4LAM conference: the broad availability and widespread experimentation with Generative AI, and the appointment of the AI4LAM Secretary General to formalize AI4LAM’s organizational framework and expand its role as a collaborative platform for advancing AI in the cultural heritage sector.

The workshop aims to inform the development of a future road map of training and learning activities supported by AI4LAM. We will envision different scenarios which can help us plan the focus of the working group activities in support of an AI4LAM future strategy.

Overview

Within the hour-long workshop our agenda is:

1. Introductions

2. Group activities and reporting back

3. Wrap up and next steps

Questions we want to explore include:

• What does 'teaching and learning' AI in GLAMs mean now – in 2025 and beyond?

• What challenges need to be addressed and what skills do we need?

• What can we do today to provide staff of GLAM institutions with what they need to be prepared for the future?

• What role could the working group play in addressing future training needs for the GLAM community?

• What groups of teachers and learners are currently relevant to our community?

The workshop will also be an opportunity to meet others with similar interests.

Background for AI4LAM's Teaching and Learning Working Group

AI4LAM is a collaborative framework for libraries, archives and museums, to organise, share, and elevate their knowledge about and use of artificial intelligence. Individually we are slow and isolated; collectively we can go faster and farther.

In the past, the Working Group has produced a 'Review of GLAM Training Resources' (https://sites.google.com/view/ai4lam/news/training-resources, 2021) and a spreadsheet listing AI training and learning opportunities.

Key findings from the GLAM Training Resources Review Report include reasons why we need GLAM focused AI teaching materials

• GLAM staff need to be able to apply machine learning in their organizations appropriately and critically.

• GLAM staff need to be equipped to meet the challenges of working with their collections.

• GLAM staff are uniquely positioned to shape the ethical use of machine learning and AI beyond their organizations.

• The effective application of Machine Learning involves more than writing code, including defining business cases for automating specific tasks, integrating ML/AI into workflows, understanding quality control requirements and supporting human review of ML/AI outputs, and understanding the ethical implications of AI use

• The maintenance and discovery of training materials for the GLAM sector would benefit from community organizing

We have also experimented with hosting conversations on GitHub (https://github.com/AI4LAM/TeachingAndLearning, 2023)