Image description: Silhouette of human head with digital rain pattern inside.
I've never used ChatGPT before, but I use Google Gemini almost everyday. I understand that many people have ethical concerns over generative AI, of which many are warranted, but there are plenty of applications for generative AI that are not problematic (not counting environmental concerns). Personally, I love using Gemini when I'm at work and I need a creative spark to get me going. I tend to not let AI write for me, but I often ask it for prompts and grammar advice. I've used it to rate cover letters I've written, asked it what resume standards are relevant and outdated, and tasked it with giving me library program ideas.
Ethan Mollick, in his keynote at the 2024 ASU+GSV Summit, gave an engaging and insightful breakdown of applications for AI, specifically ChatGPT. He gives educators a call to action to learn about, experiment with, and engage in AI, because like it or not, AI is here to stay and students are surely going to get use out of it (Mollick, 2024).
Image description: ChatGPT logo.
After watching Mollick's talk on AI, I gave ChatGPT a try by a tasking it with giving me book recommendations. Working as a library professional, I often get asked for this exact thing. Novelist Plus is an amazing resource, but unfortunately, their read-alike suggestions are limited and sometimes aren't quite what a patron is looking for. As a natural language processor, generative AIs like ChatGPT can be given very specific, fine-tuned requests and can always be prompted to give more suggestions.
So let's ask ChatGPT for book suggestions. As you can see below, I gave it a very specific prompt, asking for Fantasy/Sci-fi books with a mystery, elements of ancient cultures, limited character deaths, and no animal death.
Image description: Asking ChatGPT for book recommendations.
As you can see below, I was given a very comprehensive list of books and explanations for why they fit my prompt! I already have
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke on hold because it sounds super interesting. This application for AI makes the reader's advisory part of my job so much easier.
Image description: ChatGPT giving out book suggestions based on my prompt.
Let's say you're an avid reader, and you've already read all of these, or you don't have an interest. Unlike Novelist Plus, you can just keep asking AI for more suggestions and tweaking your request. Below, you can see another list of recommendations from ChatGPT when I asked for more.
Image description: Asking ChatGPT for even more recommendations.
In a school library setting, this can be immensely helpful for students looking for their next read. You can ask ChatGPT to tailor recommendations for a certain age group like "early reader" or "middle grade." A school librarian with possibly hundreds of students asking for suggestions can utilize AI for purposes exactly like this.
The goal of this post was to showcase a way for AI to be used that is helpful, makes life easier, but does not cross a line in ethics like other applications might. At the end of the day, AI should be used as an enhancement to everyday and creative tasks, not as a replacement. Mollick (2024) in his talk gives great reasons why everyone, including educators, should at least become familiar with this groundbreaking new technology.
References
Mollick, E. (2024). Co-intelligence: AI in the classroom with Ethan Mollick | ASU+GSV 2024 [YouTube Video]. Global Silicon Valley. Retrieved from youtube.com/watch?v=8FnOkxj0ZuA.
Comments
As a middle school science teacher, I’ve mostly used AI for brainstorming lesson ideas or writing support, especially when I’m stuck and need a fresh take. But your post opened my eyes to how helpful it could be in supporting readers too. I love the idea of tailoring book recommendations by genre, age level, or even emotional content like “no animal death,” something I know my students would definitely appreciate.
Thanks for sharing more ways AI can support our work!
Madison Frank
I love the idea of looking up books and being able to tweak the suggestions given to you to find a selection that would really work well for you. The problem with this in a school library is that, unfortunately, my library's selection is limited, so if a student searches outside of the school's destiny discover or sora apps, they will find books that they want to read but may not have access to, which can lead to disappointment. I've noticed that some students fixate on a title, and if it isn't available, they refuse to try something else, so I hesitate to direct them to any site that would suggest books we may not carry or have access to. I just went and checked to see if there was any way that chatGPT could just look through a specific library's website. It was able to pull up the local library where I am, but it does not have access to my school's library inventory, as it is not publicly available. However, if the school library has Sora and the public library has Overdrive, the school can connect to the public library's inventory in eBooks and audiobooks using sora+ library connect, and then will have access to all the public library digital resources. Therefore, if you direct chatGPT to look only in the public library's digital inventories, it should theoretically be able to select only available titles through the public library, but then it would not make any suggestions from the school library.
While recommending books to the general public seems like it would be a fantastic task for chatGPT based on the practice you did using the program, it definitely does have limitations for school libraries. I think it is just important to use AI in the proper context and be aware of the limitations so that you can plan for them.
In general, I think using ChatGPT to find book recommendations would be preferable to a book review site like Goodreads, because you can be more specific about exactly what kinds of books you are looking for and tailor the experience to your tastes. I think that is the biggest advantage to AI: that you can find answers to questions specific to your needs, rather than trying to find general information available for anyone.
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