8 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 299 2019 research to decision-makers in the private and public sectors, in order to advance the use of AI for public good.21 Several institutions of higher education offer AI ethics courses to undergraduates and graduate students examples include Stanford University,22 Vanderbilt University,23 University of Arizona,24 as well as courses through edX, Coursera, and Udacity. Computer science program accreditation by ABET requires understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security, and social issues and responsibilities—including as ethics relate to AI.25 In fact, an “AI ethics” online course search in Google returns over 35,000 results. AI Ethics and Research Libraries In this global and national context of AI investments and adoption, this issue of RLI focuses on the relation of AI ethics and the role and potential roles of research libraries. A limited sampling highlights the broadening adoption of AI in research libraries. The University of Oklahoma26 and other examples are highlighted in a 2019 issue of Library Technology Reports edited by Jason Griffey that opens with this compelling statement: “This issue of Library Technology Reports argues that the near future of library work will be enormously impacted and perhaps forever changed as a result of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems becoming commonplace.”27 Now is the time for research libraries to collectively understand and address a host of ethical questions for research institutions, public policy, and more specifically for research library leaders in institutional and public policy, so that research libraries will continue to serve as trusted advisors to our users, and as responsible collectors, disseminators, and preservers of knowledge. To help frame our thinking, we invited three individuals to share their expertise and recommendations with us. Sylvester Johnson, the founding director of the Center for Humanities and the assistant vice provost for the humanities at
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