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Forty Years of Computers in Libraries: Cycles of Technology and Progress

Marshall Breeding

Gen AI has surged faster than any other technology I have encountered in my career. Other tech fads that have held the attention of this conference have included microcomputers, spreadsheets, databases, optical discs, CD-ROM networks, the internet, the web, QR codes, open source software, Web2, and linked data. Most of these technologies that first came on the scene with such hype eventually settled in as a routine part of the technology ecosystem; however, some eventually fell away as irrelevant. Although AI is currently consuming so much attention, it seems that it will eventually be normalized. But much work remains before it can become a routine component of library technology. Gen AI has so much potential to transform library services—either in good ways or bad—that it will probably be at the center of debate for a while.