Opportunities, threats, shared values and ethical considerations - a personal reflection on the 2023 CILIP Conference

In 2023 I was lucky to be sponsored by UKeiG to attend the CILIP Conference in Birmingham. New to the profession, this was the first time I’d been given the opportunity to experience a major networking event. It was valuable to attend the presentations and get a feel for what is taking place across the wider sector. Several themes recurred for me throughout. Unsurprisingly, AI was the dominant topic. Most of the instances where it was discussed were free of the fearmongering I’ve seen elsewhere and provided balanced views on the capabilities of AI for information professionals, alongside awareness of potential threats and ethical considerations. I found it useful to hear about these topics in a library-specific context. All the speakers explained the complexities of various types of AI in an accessible way.