An artificial intelligence model that combines the values of traditional reading with technology and different learning methodologies. That provides teachers and students with access to reading without annoying intermediaries, promoting learning through a friendly, personalized and easy-to-use interface.
The central philosophy of this model revolves around simple experiences focused on the learning process. Encourage lateral reading, encouraging students to improve their research skills while reading. A model that prioritizes immersive and deep reading, similar to the experience of reading a printed book, without unnecessary distractions.
The use of this artificial intelligence model in digital libraries includes universal accessibility, which offers functions such as audio playback and designs adaptable to different abilities, guaranteeing an inclusive reading experience for all students and their teachers.
A model like this aims to improve the human-centered learning experience. Educators will be able to perform in-class readings with optimized visualizations on multiple screens (such as interactive whiteboards, computer monitors, tablets, etc.), select lists for engaging and personalized classroom exploration, assign readings, and monitor each student’s progress. individually, providing tools that enrich the comprehensive learning process.
The digital library provides a model based on artificial intelligence that adapts to the preferences and lifestyles of students and teachers, allowing the personalization of their reading experiences and, at the same time, expanding the possibilities of interaction between peers and their peers. educators. And that model exists.
At the university
French universities have set a standard of excellence in the field of libraries by adopting cutting-edge technology and focusing on technological innovation for the benefit of academics and students. This approach aims not only to improve access to knowledge, but also to promote legal innovation while guaranteeing the copyright of its creators.
A major milestone in this journey was reached in 2001 with the creation of Cyberlibris, a pioneering digital library in the French university environment. This project marked a turning point by introducing a new paradigm of electronic access to books and knowledge, transforming the academic experience of millions of students, professors and readers.
Over time, Cyberlibris has evolved by incorporating various technologies, such as ScholarVox and others, to improve its search capabilities and better adapt to the individual needs of each user. Students can now explore specific reading lists selected by professors or related to current academic assignments, thanks to more sophisticated and personalized search engines.
A key feature of this evolution has been the inclusion of features that allow readers to customize their reading experience. From options such as text-to-speech, to font selection, to audio descriptions of images, this ensures that reading is perfectly tailored to the individual needs of each student, including those with disabilities or learning disabilities.
This level of adaptability is achieved through intelligent models built into the platform.
The system is designed to make it easy for students to organize their academic work. Formats are appropriate and tailored to their specific needs, while required readings are presented in a prominent and accessible manner, avoiding confusion about assigned tasks or problems with book availability.
One of the most outstanding benefits of this model developed by ScholarVox is its capacity for continuous learning. The more institutions use it, the more data it collects and the better it becomes at providing services to both scholars and students. Currently, this network covers more than 1200 digital libraries in about 40 countries, including some in Africa such as Morocco and Senegal, and is expanding to school and public libraries, consolidating itself as a global network in constant expansion and improvement.
At the school
In the digital age, intelligence is increasingly present in our lives, from online translators to driving cars. However, some examples of what is called “generative artificial intelligence” have inspired great awe for their ability to seamlessly produce content such as conversations, stories, images, and music.
The challenge for many of these human intelligences is to move beyond the amazement of their appearance and become part of the implementation of “productive artificial intelligence” in digital libraries in school libraries, such as the successful Biblius project in Quebec, Canada.
Biblius: more than a library
Biblius is an innovative e-book lending platform designed specifically for school libraries in Quebec. It provides students and teachers with access to an extensive collection of e-books with features that enhance the teaching and learning experience.
99.6% of students on the Quebec public network have access to Biblius, and in the last school year (2022-2023), more than 700,000 loans of digital content were made in schools on the network.
Simple interface and support for teachers
The Biblius platform features a user-friendly interface that allows students and teachers to navigate seamlessly through the digital library. Users can search the electronic collection, browse virtual bookshelves, and discover new titles. The intuitive design enhances the overall user experience and makes it easy to find and borrow e-books.
In addition, the platform focuses on the classroom. Educators can use e-books as valuable resources for lesson planning, assignments, and research projects. Biblius offers features that facilitate the integration of books into the curriculum, allowing teachers to enhance their teaching methods and engage students in a more engaging way.
One of the keys to success at Biblius is that its platform incorporated FROG books (FRee your cOGnition). They are digital books in an enriched EPUB format, designed by speech therapists and education professionals, based on neuroscience research, and developed by Lireedoo . They are intended primarily for students with disabilities or learning adaptations or difficulties, and particularly for DYS students (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysorthography, among others).
Amazing results
The Biblius project offers numerous benefits to students, teachers and the education system as a whole:
- Increased access to books: Expands access to a vast collection of e-books, encouraging independent reading and critical thinking.
- Support for special learning needs: E-books help students with disabilities or learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, by allowing customizable settings such as font size and background color.
- Multilingual education: Including books in different languages meets the needs of newly arrived students and encourages multilingualism.
- Flexible Learning Opportunities: Allows students to access e-books outside of school hours, encouraging self-directed learning and research.
- Extended Teaching Resources: Provides teachers with a wealth of instructional resources, such as interactive and multimedia content, which enhances teaching methods and promotes student engagement.
Four Key Components of the Biblius Project
The success of the Biblius project, as stated on its website, depends on four key components:
- Robust management platform: Working with De Marque to develop an e-book lending management platform that meets the specific needs of the education sector.
- Sustainable business model: Creating a business model that balances compensation to rights holders with affordable access to e-books for schools.
- Training and Support: Comprehensive training program and tools to help schools effectively implement the e-book lending platform.
- Communication and Participation: Transparency and regular communication to keep stakeholders informed of the project’s progress.
The Biblius project is transforming education by providing students and teachers with a state-of-the-art e-book lending platform that enhances learning, supports diverse needs and encourages independent reading.
At the comic
The third and last example is not about digital libraries, but about a format with artificial intelligence adaptations that could have a very profound impact on the industry, on readers and probably also on libraries: the comic book.
The company Comix AI and the University of La Rochelle in France are developing an R&D model with engineers, researchers, and scientists, following the business-university collaboration scheme that is fundamental for the advancement of technological innovation in several countries. A first product, called ComixSuite, has already been developed, offering various artificial intelligence applications for different aspects of the development and production of a comic, manga or webtoon.
In the first version of ComixSuite, the translation and accessibility service is available. This technology makes it possible to extract geometric and textual semantics from all forms of comics, manga, webtoons, etc., taking the computerized or handwritten text, including onomatopoeia, bubble shapes and vignettes, even in drawings that are not obvious, and translating it into the reader’s language.
This becomes even more interesting when we consider the accessibility features included, such as text-to-speech, the bullet-to-bullet navigation system, the ability to temporarily replace a text bubble with a version that contains the same text but is easier to read and decipher for people with language disorders, such as dyslexia.
In this sense, artificial intelligence technologies can also be used by libraries to index comic books, manga or webtoons, radically improving the searchability of such graphically complex documents. This applies to the digitization of old books in the public domain as well as newer books.
After consolidating the translation and accessibility layers, the next stages of ComixSuite development are expected to be Indexing, Storyboarding and Reading UX. These could make it possible to read aloud not only the handwritten texts of comics, but most likely their images as well. This opens an unexpected field for reading as we know it: reading images.
The Dilemma
As information professionals, we are impressed by many of the experiences we have learned about in the field of artificial intelligence, and we glimpse the enormous capacity of these intelligences to change the way we produce and relate to reading and readers.
We talk about information, data, how to increase the volumes, how to manage them, we talk about big data, and we see in artificial intelligence a way to help us solve this infinity. We also know that today’s society is absolutely intoxicated by the same information: infoxication, infodemic, fake news are growing problems. And artificial intelligence itself can help make things worse.
The Korean-German philosopher Byung-Chul Han has warned us forcefully of the danger inherent in all these new threats:
- “Information alone does not light up the world. It can even darken it. Beyond a certain point, information is not informative, but deformative”.
- Hypercommunication smooths, softens, and ultimately standardizes everything.”
- “It is our communication and information frenzy that makes things disappear.”
- “Everything that is hurried is doomed to disappear.”
We librarians have a fundamental role in this, an ethical and moral role that invites us to ensure that the philosopher’s prophecies do not come true. Especially in artificial intelligence, we librarians need to be particularly vigilant.
All the examples I have shown you here of artificial intelligence applied to learning environments, libraries, universities, schools, or comic books are productive artificial intelligences, never generative. One of the great dangers to the book industry, to libraries, to reading, and to humanity in general is generative AI because, as we know, it has the potential to illegally take the copyright, creation, and work of artists and writers without asking permission and without confronting the results.
Librarians should embrace AI when it does not violate the copyrights and works of millions of artists, craftspeople, creators, and writers, and we should strive for generative AI that enhances the quality of human life, not harms it. Androids may dream of digital libraries, but we are the librarians who manage them.
And in the face of this dilemma, we have a role to play.