Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library

Abstract: The field of library and information science (LIS) has seemingly embraced the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) within libraries and archives, rather than taking an overtly critical stance. For a discipline founded on providing information and propagating literacy, supporting the use of generative AI within LIS institutions is arguably contradictory. LIS workers are encouraged to respond neutrally or even positively to generative AI as if it is an objective tool to use; I argue that they should, in turn, be critical of the technology and empowered in their choice to refuse generative AI within their employing institutions. Through a review of the relevant literature and contemporary discourse of generative AI, this paper critiques the notion of "AI literacy," discusses critical practice in LIS, and surveys the ethics of and issues involved with integrating generative AI within libraries and archives, including its implicit and explicit reinforcement of racism, hate speech, and prejudicial caricaturization; data collection practices and corporations' lack of regard for user privacy; and its extraneous and well-documented environmental impact. I contend that LIS workers should be concerned with materially supporting values of antiracism, sustainability, the public good, intellectual freedom, and privacy, which includes an antagonism toward adopting technologies without critical comprehension. With the understanding that workers have varied levels of control within their institutions, I make the case that in terms of generative AI, a politics of refusal is necessary. Refusing generative AI demonstrates our resolve as critical practitioners, workers, and individuals; disengages with racism and prejudice as already embedded into LIS institutions; protects the creativity and labor of workers and privacy of community members; and precludes the possibility of increasing carbon emissions and electronic waste.