Director, DCision Consult Denise Carter's presentation provides an overview of artificial intelligence and looks at how it will affect information professionals

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
What is it?
&
Where do information
professionals fit ?
Denise Carter, DCision Consult | CILIP Conference July 5, 2018

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This is perhaps what
we
imagine
when we
think of
AI …

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… but this is closer to what AI reality
looks like today

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AI needs humans
AI breaks down into data and algorithms
So where do Information Professionals fit
in?
Is it bad news
?
Is it good news
?
Is it a fad ?
AI is here!

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6. The UK Government in its Industrial Strategy White Paper,
defines AI as:
“Technologies with the ability to perform tasks
that would otherwise require human
intelligence, such as visual perception, speech
recognition, and language translation”.
The UK House of Lords in their Select Committee Report on Artificial
Intelligence made one addition to this definition:
“AI systems today usually have the capacity to
learn or adapt to new experiences or stimuli”.
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AI and related technologies:
definitions & suggested further
reading

8. The UK:
A
data-driven
economy
The UK government has identified
AI as one of its four grand
challenges.
The Alan Turing Institute has been
named as the UK national research
centre for AI.
The six priority business sectors for
AI are:
① Cybersecurity
② Lifescience
③ Construction
④ Manufacturing
⑤ Energy
⑥ Agricultural technology
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The data lifecycle
is no longer clear and
distinct but interconnected and
interdependent with open networks
of data
Data governance and data
management is becoming
increasingly
complex

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Data capture and processing
is increasingly pervasive
Data collection and use are
becoming harder to separate
Non-sensitive data can
hold sensitive insights
What are the drivers of
complexity?

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Access to metadata
becomes increasingly critical
Data degradation
becomes more of an issue
Knowing which data is poor data becomes
increasingly difficult
And it is becoming more
challenging to know where
data comes
from

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Ethics
Who owns the data?
Who creates the algorithm?
Who can use the data?
Who can buy the data?
Are you dealing with a
human or a robot?
Who owns the algorithm?

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Ethics
ARE INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS
REPRESENTED
IN THESE ORGANISATIONS?
T
H
E
U
The UK Government has committed
£9
million to establishing a Centre for
Data and Ethics
The Nuffield Foundation have pre-
empted this and set up the Ada
Lovelace Institute
A Science & Technology Commons
Select Committee have issued a report
setting out the agenda for the new
Centre for Data and Ethics
There are huge opportunities presented by algorithms to the
public sector and wider society, but also the potential for their
decisions to disproportionately affect certain groups

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Skills
McKinsey Global Institute predict 3skill sets
workers will need by 2030
Higher cognitive skills
 Advanced literacy and
writing
 Quantitative and statistical
skills
 Critical thinking and
decision making
 Project management
 Complex information
processing and
interpretation

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Skills
Social and emotional skills
 Advanced communication and negotiation
skills
 Interpersonal skills and empathy
 Leadership and managing others Entrepreneurship and
initiative-taking
 Adaptability and
continuous learning
 Teaching and training
others

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Skills
Technological skills
 Basic digital skills
 Advanced IT skills and
programming
 Advanced data analysis
 Mathematical skills
 Technological design,
engineering, and
maintenance
 Scientific research and
development

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Digital
Literacy
The government industrial
strategy report doesn’t mention
digital or information literacy
skills. They focus on maths and
computer science, particularly
coding as being essential
educational aspirations.
The House of Lords report does
specifically mention the
importance of improving digital
literacy skills.
2018 saw the release of the new
information literacy definition
by CILIP’s Information Literacy Group

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More about AI and the information professional
to be discovered in the Annual Business Information
Survey, which will be published in the September 2018
issue of Business Information Review
Information Professionals are have the right skills
to capitalise on the opportunities AI will offer and
also well-placed to help their own organisations
and society to provide guidance and knowledge
(and wisdom) on data governance, data quality,
information literacy, and ethics