With the prioritization of efficiency and time-saving in contemporary society, library instruction struggles not to follow suit. In this piece we reflect on how the values of efficiency and time-saving impact our praxis as university library instructors at Copenhagen University Library, and on how the arrival of AI tools speaks to—as well as further accelerates—these values. Our reflections are based on the experiences we have gained so far as library instructors, who observe how broader societal changes impact our own practice. The article identifies the dangers of accepting—without proper discussion—the time-saving aspect as one of the main reasons for integrating generative AI into all aspects of our lives in general, and into our library instruction in particular. As a potential solution, we propose engaging with the principles of slow librarianship that encourage a mindful approach to literature search, further developing the critical-thinking abilities of students when using generative AI.
Andersen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.