Perceptions toward Artificial Intelligence among Academic Library Employees and Alignment with the Diffusion of Innovations’ Adopter Categories

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a topic of interest among information technology innovators. As AI is refined, practical uses of the technology to improve the transfer of information are increasingly investigated, developed, and adopted in a variety of public environments, including in libraries. Given the relatively recent emergence of AI in this respect, it presents an opportunity to investigate the emergence of public perceptions toward the innovation and the relationship this holds with the adoption of emerging technologies, as envisioned in Roger's Diffusion of Innovations model. This study describes the results of a survey of practicing librarians regarding the adopter category (innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggard) with which they identify and the relationship of this identification with perceived knowledge and perceptions of AI technology within and outside the library environment. The findings of this survey have both theoretical implications for the Diffusion model within the library technology context as well as practical implications for supporting the process of diffusion of emerging technologies among academic library employees.Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technological innovation of increasing interest to the general public as well as within the academic library environment. 1 Given the early stage in the development of this technology and its adoption for public use, there is a unique opportunity to examine a cross-section of librarians regarding the Diffusion of Innovations model and perceptions of AI. No study of this extent has yet been published in the scholarly literature in library and information science (LIS). Such an examination may prove beneficial both to the understanding of diffusion of innovations theory as well as perceptions of academic library employees toward AI in general. The findings may assist academic library administrators and tech-inclined employees as they aim to garner greater receptiveness among colleagues toward adopting AI technology in their libraries.Artificial intelligence (AI) can be defined in many ways, as noted throughout scholarly and general literature, including a recent article published in Forbes. 2 Russell and Norvig, in

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