Awareness and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for users with visual and hearing impairment in university libraries in Nigeria

Abstract

New technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) are increasingly becoming a major force in contemporary society as they touch almost our lives, health, education and business. AI is modelled after human intelligence to adapt, recognize and process information and is increasingly changing the ways and manner people handle certain tasks. This study examines the awareness, preparedness and challenges of adoption of AI tools in Nigerian university libraries for information service delivery to users with visual and hearing impairment. This study adopted a descriptive survey design. The sample population consists of university librarians in the federal, state and private universities in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. The questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection. The questionnaire was administered face-to-face to the respondents by the researchers with the support of ten research assistants. Data were collected at the 2024 Nigeria Library Association (NLA) conference/Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was held at the University of Port Harcourt from 7th to 12th July 2024. The researchers randomly administered a total of 1000 copies of the questionnaire to librarians who attended the conference/AGM. From the 1000 questionnaires that were distributed, a total of 624 (62.4%) were retrieved and found usable for the analysis of this study. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 16.0. The results show that over 50% of librarians in this study are aware of AI tools and the majority of them are highly prepared to adopt AI for delivery of library and information services to users with visual and hearing impairment. The results moreover, revealed notable challenges facing the adoption and use of AI in university libraries in Nigeria. Recommendations to increase awareness, preparedness and solutions to the challenges are offered.