AI Talk Galore at ALA Annual Conference 2026

A weekend of metadata, AI applications, and ethics in the Windy City

Posted on July 1, 2026 in Blog Posts

The wind? Windy. The line for coffee? Around the block. The librarians? Present. So it goes, another ALA Annual Conference has come and gone. Held in ALA’s hometown of Chicago in celebration of ALA’s 150th anniversary, the conference brought together librarians, library staff, publishers, vendors, and more to network, collect free tote bags, and prophesize the future of librarianship.

My first Annual ever (!), I was tasked with getting the scoop on all things library technology. Instead of grabbing a free galley, hearing romance authors chat about their genre, or getting a book signed by one of my favorite authors as a teenager, I was packing my bag with protein bars and trekking to hotel conference rooms to hear about how library professionals are handling the evolving landscape of generative AI. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

In total, I attended three library technology presentations (which doesn’t sound like a lot, but one of them was four hours long so cut me some slack). The sessions included: “Is AI Really Gonna Take My Job?: The Impact of AI on the Work Occurring in Public Libraries” on Friday and “Top Tech Trends” and “AI Information Practices of Undergraduate Students: Qualitative Evidence from Transcript Analysis and Student Experiences” on Saturday. Below are key themes I picked out from the events.

Metadata Is Hot, Hot, Hot

When my colleague reported on the Annual conference in 2023, she included a chart of the various library technology topics presented on that year. ChatGPT wasn’t even a year old at that point (simpler times), so AI didn’t crack the top five most popular topics. When I tried to replicate that chart this year, I found that AI was interwoven into so many different areas (e.g. information literacy, maker spaces, policy, archival research), that it was pretty much a fruitless endeavor. Rest assured that generative AI was very much covered at the conference.

What I did find, both in the programming list and in my attended sessions, was an emphasis on AI and metadata. Multiple speakers underscored that AI can help automize metadata practices for library collections. Marshall Breeding, creator of Library Technology Guides, discussed the opportunity for libraries to develop metadata at scale with AI, particularly for institutions sitting on metadata-less collections that lack the staff or bandwidth to complete these projects.

As long as the process includes thorough human oversight, GenAI tools appear to be a functional starting point for building institutional metadata. As Breeding noted, vendors have already begun to answer the call. His 2026 Library Systems Report spotlighted multiple AI metadata creation services from Clarivate. Others are sure to follow.

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We Now Have a Better Idea of What AI Can and Can’t Do

In the three and half years since ChatGPT’s launch, we’ve experienced a massive influx of generative AI tools that promise to solve problems that don’t exist and deliver ever-increasing efficiencies (whatever that means). So, naturally, a major topic of the weekend was what AI can accomplish, and presenters had answers. First, what it does well. Across the board, speakers shared that AI excels at tasks like: writing code, generating tags, sorting through massive amounts of data, assisting with web development projects, and, as previously mentioned, creating metadata. On the patron-facing side, Nicole Steeves, IT Director for Chicago Public Library, underscored that her institution invests in AI services that the library cannot perform on its own, such as real time translation (DeepL) or accessibility services (Be My Eyes).

So what is AI, as one panelist delicately put it, “garbage” at? Namely, reference services, reader advisability, and traditional catalog search. Multiple speakers emphasized that humans will always outperform AI on tasks like subject search and reference questions. Overall, the top-level perspective—from both public and academic librarians—was that AI integration decisions were based on whether the tools will improve staff capabilities and patron services; in other words, they’re not looking to replace librarians or library staff, but to utilize meaningfully useful tools that can do what humans can’t.

Students (and the Public) Have Their Own Ethics for AI

Speaking of patrons, my last library technology session featured a study on how students use AI chatbots for research and scholarship. Presenters Laura Costello, Director of Access and Information Services at the University of Minnesota, and Michael Flierl, Associate Professor & Student Learning Librarian at The Ohio State University, looked at 100 AI chatbot transcripts from students to understand the kinds of questions they’re asking chatbots, why they’re using them for schoolwork, and the practical implications on library services. One of the most fascinating aspects of the report (slides available here) was students’ ethical approaches to using these tools. Laura reported that the students interviewed were creating their own ethical frameworks for AI. Many respondents used chatbots for general courses but not for classes central to their degree, differentiating based on what they cared about. In addition, respondents only used chatbots for parts of academic work, such as for assistance with outlining or studying, but not for others. However, Laura noted that these frameworks can go out the window as they enter a time crunch.

The report also revealed various reasons for using chatbots, such as balancing coursework with employment, viewing chatbots as a lower barrier to entry for learning, using it to check grammar and spelling for ESL speakers, or even due to social anxiety that prevented engaging with tutors. As students use these services, ethical questions remain on their minds, with concerns with privacy, learning loss, academic dishonesty, overreliance, and environmental impacts. Beyond the academy, public library leaders reported that patrons feel shame around using AI and ran into roadblocks in getting patrons to confess to using these tools.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that the conference audience reflected these ongoing ethical concerns. Audiences had questions like: how to promote ethical AI use with faculty, the transparency of AI use in publishing, and balancing administrative AI implementation directives with staff wariness. While the panelists acknowledged that generative AI conflicts with many library values, overall they (and, begrudgingly, the audience members) supported an “AI-informed” workplace—I believe this was used by panelist Dr. Brandy McNeil, President of the Public Library Association and Deputy Director of The New York Public Library—that stays up-to-date on AI innovations and can respond to and guide AI-curious patrons. The better patrons understand generative AI, the more likely they’ll be to ask librarians and not AI chatbots their reference questions, right? Right??

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