Hey Reader!

It's sunny here in N. Michigan! Haha! Just kidding. We've got five inches of snow in the last 24 hours, and another six inches are slated for Wednesday. Boss from Library B emailed the staff a Zoom link for our monthly staff meeting for tomorrow, and I privately responded, "Um, is the library going to be open tomorrow due to the storm?" No response yet.

Let's Talk About Generative AI

This is beyond a divisive topic, so bear with me. Remember that this is not only my personal opinion (subjective) but also includes sourced data (objective). Do with this information what you will.

Preface: I am not anti-AI. Generative AI can be used for a lot of legitimate reasons. I use it when coming up with names of places for my books, or I give it a whirl if I can't solve something and can't find the answer via search. Mr. Lisa uses Generative AI for coding help because he says that while there can be inaccuracies, AI-generated help for coding is more right than wrong.

A Client Story

I recently had a conversation with a client about his website. I'm not the designer or developer, but I will give my opinion as things come up per his request. We talked about images he wanted to incorporate, most, if not all, can be found copyright-free at Wikimedia Commons or Flickr (to name a few spots).

Then, he dropped the bomb; the designer used AI to generate the images.

Like, what the actual heck! (I said to him in a different yet forceful way.)

Why use Generative AI for national landmarks when high-resolution images are available free of copyright and can be legally used?

My client had no idea why his designer used Generative AI, but he begrudgingly said he would talk to the designer about it.

The conversation moved on to other things, and no more was said.

(I had a meeting with a potential client last summer who said all of his social media text was generated by AI. I about fell over into my coffee.)

NGI and Generative AI

I have a statement on my services page that says the following:

This question does come up in the intro calls and it's important to me to let my clients know where I stand on such things.

Teaching About Generative AI

I teach a class on social media and in the presentation, I have the following on Generative AI:

• ​Generative AI is often wrong (U of Maryland article.)
• ​Generative AI learns misinformation (U of Maryland article.)
• ​Generative AI has a bias (U of Maryland article.)
• ​Your work can illegally be used in training Generative AI (CopyrightAlliance article.)
• ​Generative AI does not cite sources or make them up (U of Maryland article. A friend who is a medical librarian regularly gets requests for articles that she cannot find. When she asks the requestor where they got the title from, it's from them using AI.)
• The content is not up to date (ChatGPT last updated in October 2023 and Google’s Gemini in November 2023)
• ​It’s environmentally destructive (Link to MIT article.)
• Using Generative AI can come at the cost of information literacy
• Not using Generative AI does not mean you’re a Luddite
• Interestingly, 40% of Americans 18-64 are using Generative AI in some capacity (Link to NPR article with data source.)

(This list is compiled by two sources: A Librarian Against AI by Violet B. Fox and AI is Very Bad Actually: A Manifesto by Julie Setele. Reference links my own research as I'm a librarian and believe in legit sources!)

This is a lot to take in!

What do you do? You keep hearing AI is the latest and greatest thing!

Use it sparingly.

That's it. Double-check the answer, which, by this point, you were probably better off researching on your own the screw around with prompts to get the answer.

You do you, but I really need people to understand what exactly is Generative AI and the pros and cons of using it.

Shameless pitch

I teach a class called The Source Whisperer: Research Beyond Google and AI, and I have a few online locations where it's happening! Check my resources and classes page for more details! (Yes, these are for author groups, but the class is for the general populace and not just for authors.)

Social Media Tip

Tip: You need a newsletter.

Why: It's pretty simple: people want information to come to them and not have to go to it. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, like lifestyle and cooking websites that are content-heavy, but generally, you need a newsletter. A newsletter offers a lot of connections to your audience.

Here is an example list of future newsletter topics I have for NGI:

• Choosing clients
• Advertising
• State of the librarian job
• Excessively Diverting
• Getting clients
• Creating docs vs forms vs spreadsheets for clients
• 2025 predictions
• AMA
• How I started my busiess
• Tutorials

I have over 35 different topics on my list! And considering this newsletter goes out every other week, that's a lot of content!

After drawing up a list of topics, concentrate on one or two newsletter topics and maybe include photos like memes of the week, an infographic, or a link to a video that tickled your pickle.

I offer three main things in every newsletter on top of the topics: A picture of Thursday, a social media tip, and a meme of the week. My audience likes the consistency. As for topics, I choose one or two depending on what the content is. Since I knew Generative AI would be a big topic, that's my only topic in this issue.

The big question I often get is: When should I start a newsletter? If you have an existing website and platform, the answer is now. You'll need to offer a lead magnet (I'll explain more in the next issue), which is something the subscriber cannot find anyone else. The subscriber wants to feel they are getting something for giving you their email address.

And if you don't have a website or platform presence yet? The answer is it depends. I have a client whose website is live, but it has not been formally launched. Two weeks before the launch, we will direct the audience to the newsletter signup page.

Whew! This is a lot!

Meme of the Week

See you in a few weeks!

Lisa and Thursday

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