OU Libraries has been developing several AI projects.

Artificial Intelligence Workshop
Tim Smith presented the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Workshop at Ou Libraries on national PI day. The workshop focused on Natural Language Processing, a subset of AI. Participants assembled what is essentially a Google Home kit. They also got to look at the code that drives the Natural Language Process and see on a monitor what the Google Home kit was "hearing." This workshop was held for staff and will be expanded to help teach students about AI with hands on learning. 

Voice Searching
The prevalence of virtual assistants in society is escalating the need for libraries to grapple with voice searching as a pressing technology change. As part of this growing trend, OU Libraries Head of Web Services, Tim Smith, has been developing an Alexa skill that allows users to search various platforms like Primo and Lib Guides. By using natural language processing, the Alexa skill translates verbal search requests into intents that can access vendor search APIs and return results. When tested with a student cohort, this pilot project received overwhelmingly positive feedback. 

Algorithm Bias Sandbox
This workshop will allow participants to view various types of AI interactions, including auto-complete search box, chatbot, word completion, etc. Within these pre-constructed sandboxes, participants will be able to select from various subsets of data. They will then be able to see the outcome of the data processed through the sandbox, and they will be able to verify the algorithmic bias from the results. Participants will also be shown some ways to minimize different types of unintentional bias for future projects of their own.