What’s Ahead in AI: Signal, Noise and the Coming Year for Libraries
Every few months brings a new wave of AI announcements, and it can feel like the ground shifts before you’ve had a chance to stand on it. This keynote takes a breath. Avery Swartz looks back at how AI has changed libraries over the past few years, separates the developments that mattered from the ones that didn’t, and offers her read on what’s coming in the year ahead. Expect a candid look at the hype cycle, a few predictions to keep an eye on, and a reminder that a library’s judgement about what serves its community is still the most valuable thing in the room.
Outcomes:
- Learn to tell the difference between a capability shift in AI and marketing noise
- Leave with a short list of things to watch in the year ahead, and the reasoning behind each
- Build confidence in evaluating your library’s AI use
Registration is coming soon!
Cost: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Housing & Municipal Affairs, which enables us to offer our BCLA Year-End Keynote speaker free of charge.
Who should attend: Library workers at any comfort level with AI, including skeptics
Presenter bio: Avery Swartz is an acclaimed tech educator and best-selling author. She is the founder and CEO of Camp Tech, which has been delivering practical tech and AI skills training since 2012. She is also co-lead of AI Skills Lab Canada, a national program bridging the AI gender adoption gap for women and non-binary entrepreneurs. Avery works with arts and culture organizations, public libraries, museums, and nonprofits across Canada, including the National Arts Centre and the Stratford Festival, to adopt AI with confidence. Avery is the resident tech contributor on CTV Your Morning and is regularly heard on CBC Radio. She also hosted the AI Meets World podcast from Microsoft and The Globe and Mail Content Studio.
BCLA events are all Pacific Time, hosted online via Zoom, which includes closed captioning. If you have any accessibility needs to attend these sessions, please contact Natalie Porter, BCLA Professional Development Coordinator in advance and BCLA will do our best to support you.
BCLA expects anyone attending to honour the Online Community Guidelines, to help create a positive environment that values accountability, respect, and a willingness to learn from each other.
