Harvard Library Vice President Martha Whitehead shared the following response to University guidelines on using generative AI tools at Harvard.
Earlier today, the University published initial guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and Google Bard.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate some of the remarks I made when introducing the topic of Generative AI in Libraries at Harvard Library’s All-Staff Meeting on June 29. This topic seemed an appropriate one for our end-of-year meeting, as it is very much about building on past accomplishments and seizing opportunities for the future. It is also about upholding our core values.
Generative AI and research libraries share a fundamental promise: the ability to draw upon a broad corpus of existing information to answer questions and generate new information. In this equation, Harvard Library brings the fundamental value of access to information, and by that we mean access to trustworthy information spanning centuries, regions, and voices around the globe.
In engaging with generative AI, we want to shape the emerging tools to mitigate biases and improve reliability, and we want to apply them appropriately in our work in information discovery and access, information literacy, information management, and preservation.
These are words worth repeating: mitigate biases. The work ahead of us in generative AI is fundamental to our equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism (EDIBA) goals and our role as a center for knowledge for academic programs and advanced research.
Harvard Library will be an active partner in University explorations of the opportunities and challenges of current advances in generative AI, bringing our values, our digital expertise, and our understanding of the information landscape.
Within Harvard Library, we’re planning for a Library-wide initiative to explore various facets of generative AI in libraries, including user research, information literacy and academic success, research integrity and information policy, discovery, open repositories, and administrative innovation. I hope to share further details in the fall.
Martha Whitehead
Vice President for the Harvard Library and University Librarian
Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences