Artificial Intelligence adoption, perceptions, and ethical literacy among Arab academic librarians: A survey

The study explored how Arab academic libraries are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and examined the awareness of AI ethical considerations from the perspectives of Arab academic librarians. It utilized a survey-based approach, employing a snowball sampling technique across 48 academic libraries in 17 Arab countries. The research instrument was a web-based questionnaire, which received responses from a total of 272 participants.

The findings revealed that 37.5 % of respondents indicated that their libraries use AI, with cataloging and generating metadata being the most common applications used by 43 % of libraries. The study highlighted several challenges to AI adoption in Arab academic libraries, including a lack of necessary infrastructure and staff training. Moreover, about 81 % of Arab academic librarians believed that intellectual property and copyright are the most important ethical considerations regarding AI. However, only 12% of participants reported having encountered ethical issues related to AI use in their library work. The results indicated that the primary actions taken by Arab academic libraries were offering face-to-face or online seminars and workshops on AI ethics, as well as providing ethical considerations and resources related to academic integrity through their websites. The study recommended that Arab academic libraries organize appropriate training programs to improve AI literacy among staff, develop the necessary infrastructure for AI adoption, and prepare relevant policy documents to guide the ethical use of AI technologies.