'It makes things up like crazy!' : Swedish school librarians' perceptions on ChatGPT

Sammanfattning: The aim of my thesis is to provide research-based insight into AI technologies for information seeking’s place in future school library operations. To achieve this aim, I am looking at Swedish school librarians’ perceptions and views on AI technologies for information seeking, especially in connection with their work on media and information literacy. My research questions are as follows: (Q1) How do school librarians perceive AI technologies for information seeking in relation to their perception of current search technologies? (Q2) What AI specific literacies do school librarians see need to be developed and fitted into future media and information literacy education? I used the qualitative method of semi-structured interviews to gather the empirical material for this study. The theoretical concepts applied to the analysis were Haider and Sundin’s infrastructural meaning-making and Taina Bucher’s algorithmic imaginary. Some of the interviewees saw the possibility to search in a conversation-like way as something positive in comparison to current search technologies. In contrast, knowing how to formulate one or a set of questions was identified as a future skill in order to effectively converse with an AI chatbot. Most participants also saw ChatGPT as an unreliable source for information, and current search technologies where links and sources are presented to the user is seen as the superior. The participants largely agree that the introduction of AI technology will not have any serious impact on the way they instruct on media and information literacy. Different strategies which align with the concept of infrastructural meaning-making, such as comparing search results, discussing the technical side to search, and making search visible, will be equally applicable to instruction on AI. Some participants see that AI technologies for information seeking could worsen already existing issues with current search technologies, such as an increase in the spread of misinformation and increasingly complex technologies being hidden behind a façade of an easy-to-use search service, making instruction on media and information literacy even more important.