Call for papers

ARLIS UK & Ireland Annual Conference 2024

Artificial Visions: Navigating the Intersection of AI and Art Libraries
Location: Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
Date: 2-4 July 2024

At this year’s ARLIS UK & Ireland Annual Conference we want to give space to the playful, critical and very human ways in which art librarians are adapting in the world of artificial intelligence. We invite contributors to investigate the role of emerging technologies (including machine learning, generative AI, and natural language processing) in the context of art and design libraries and archives.

• How are these tools already being used in creative practice, academic research and
  writing?
• How does AI technology disrupt established library models and processes?
• How do we educate ourselves on the practical uses and the ethical considerations of
  these technologies? Are we responsible for educating our users to use these tools
  critically?
• How can we balance our enthusiastic forays into AI while thoughtfully questioning
  and assessing its (current and future) impact? What are the discussions that are
  happening, and what are the conversations that need to happen?
• How can we work most usefully to support the practice of artists who are engaging
  with AI in their work?

The questions are many and answers are still emerging. We recognise that delegates will be at various stages of their exploration of this field (and may even not have embarked on it yet), and we therefore welcome inspiring, questioning and provocative contributors who are also in the process of discovery. We invite all who are willing to share their investigations and their stories and are particularly keen to include playful, practical and creative
workshops that will allow delegates to discover and debate the impact of these AI technologies.

There are three ways you can contribute to the Conference:

• Presentations (30 minutes including questions)
• Workshops (max. 1 hour)
• Lightning talks or short presentations (10 minutes)

We welcome submissions from art library workers, academics, practitioners, early career researchers and independent scholars. Contributions can be offered at any academic (or non-academic) level, and we encourage the perspectives of artists, curators, collectives and others who are engaging with the conference themes in their thinking and their work.

To create a truly engaging conference, we are seeking presenters who bring a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. We particularly welcome submissions from people belonging to under-represented and marginalised communities and sectors, including but not limited to: BAME; LGBTQIA+; those with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent.

If you have an interest in the questions we’ll be discussing and would like to contribute your thoughts and/or experience to the 2024 ARLIS UK & Ireland Conference, we’d love to hear from you. Taking part in the Annual Conference is a valuable CPD experience that will enhance your CV/portfolio and offer you a chance to share your experience and ideas with the wider art and design libraries and archives community, as well as with practising artists. We look forward to hearing from you with your ideas and proposals.

Please send them to: arlisconference24@gmail.com by midnight on Friday March 8th 2024.

We’ll let you know whether your proposal has been accepted by Friday March 15th.