Exploring AI Tools
I’m taking a course on AI via SLJ. This is a response to a prompt we are to address this week.
Share 1-3 ideas that seem promising. Remember: consider how the tool might help you increase engagement or active learning from patrons or students.
Prior to this course, I was already actively using all four recommended AI tools, with ChatGPT being my primary go-to. I maintain a paid subscription, which allows me to organize my queries and reference materials in folders. This feature has significantly enhanced my workflow, especially since ChatGPT can access the history within these folders, making it easier to track progress and synthesize information across projects.
One of the most valuable features I use is the Deep Research tool within ChatGPT, which I rely on to generate concise, topic-specific briefs. These are especially useful in my role with a global education organization where I’m helping to redevelop their curriculum. For instance, I recently used it to generate a comprehensive brief on culturally responsive teaching for non-educator stakeholders. This kind of background synthesis saves time and increases engagement by giving team members a shared foundation for discussion.
I’ve also been exploring creative uses of ChatGPT—like testing prompts from the Reddit community (e.g., “What does the inside of my mind look like?”) and participating in discussions around how power users leverage LLMs. These explorations inspire ideas for student engagement activities and personalized prompts in future workshops.
Another favorite tool is Google Notebook LM. I use it to curate and annotate collections of up to 300 resources per notebook. Recent themes include global teaching and learning, readers’ advisory, and democracy preservation. With the new sharing feature (available for personal Gmail accounts), these notebooks could be used for collaborative learning and asynchronous research assignments.
While I’ve spent less time with Claude and Perplexity, I’ve recently started diving deeper into Claude—especially after my library director noted it as her top choice. I uploaded spreadsheets of past library tech classes and our strategic plan to Claude, and it generated excellent ideas for new offerings aligned with our goals. This use case has me thinking about how we could better co-design tech curricula with the help of LLMs.
As for Adobe Firefly, I’ve used it to generate logos for the Artistic Bridges project, experimenting with different visual styles. While I appreciate the creative potential, I’d like more guidance on prompt construction and features like seed numbers. I’ve also begun using Ideogram, which I find slightly more intuitive and better aligned with my visual storytelling needs.
Promising Ideas I’d Like to Explore Further:
Infographic Creation – Using AI to develop clear, visual guides to frequently asked tech questions from patrons.
Best Practices Reports – Automating synthesis of research into digestible formats for staff training and curriculum design.
Creative Marketing Materials – Leveraging AI to brainstorm and design more engaging flyers, social posts, and course promotions.
These tools are not only saving time but also enhancing my ability to create meaningful, accessible learning experiences for adult learners and global collaborators alike.
Note: This post was refined in ChatGPT.