AI in Science & Technology Libraries: Smarter Discovery, Better Services, and Responsible Use

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how knowledge is created, discovered, and used. For science and technology libraries, this presents both opportunity and responsibility. This talk explores how AI can *enhance discovery, automate metadata generation, support research workflows, and improve user services*. At the same time, it examines concerns such as bias, hallucinations, copyright, data privacy, and the evolving role of librarians. The session will present *a balanced view of practical gains and real limitations, offering a framework for responsible adoption*. The goal is not simply to adopt AI tools, but to integrate them thoughtfully within academic and research ecosystems. Speaker Roshan G. Ragel is a Professor in Computer Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, and Bioinformatics. He was ranked the top computer scientist in Sri Lanka by the AD Scientific Index for multiple years and is the recipient of the 2025 IEEE Computer Society Mary Kenneth Keller Undergraduate Teaching Award, the first academic from the Global South to receive this recognition. He serves on Sri Lanka’s National AI Steering Committee and leads the Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN), driving national digital infrastructure and AI capacity building. His work focuses on responsible AI adoption in higher education, research, and digital knowledge systems. Date: April 8th, 2026 Time: 09:30 IST (06:00 CEST / 04:30 UTC) Webinar page: https://www.ifla.org/events/ai-in-sci... Press release: https://www.ifla.org/news/ai-and-libr... Know-how:   / 4-ai-strategies-science-technology-librari...   Graphic know-how: https://repository.ifla.org/items/30e... --------------- ► LinkedIn:   / 9866180   ► Facebook:   / 1495854740660283   ► Website: https://www.ifla.org/units/sci-tech-l... ► Join the IFLA mailing list: https://mail.iflalists.org/wws/subscr... ► Join the IFLA SciTech mailing list: https://mail.iflalists.org/wws/subscr...