Will library science professors be replaced by AI?
Updated
Library science professors score 49 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 60%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 14% outright, and 26% stays with people.
- 14% AI can do it
- 60% AI helps
- 26% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 72% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 25 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 3 of them today, speeds up 15 and leaves 7 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records. Attendance and grade records are structured data entry and tracking. | 75% AI can do it |
| Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. AI drafts syllabi, assignments, and handouts; instructor reviews output. | 70% AI can do it |
| Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments. AI literature search compiles bibliographies quickly; instructor verifies citations. | 70% AI can do it |
| Edit manuscripts for professional journals. AI editing tools handle copyedits and feedback; editor makes decisions. | 60% AI helps |
| Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction. AI can propose revisions and gap analyses; faculty decide changes. | 55% AI helps |
| Develop and teach online courses. AI helps build course content and materials; live teaching stays human. | 55% AI helps |
| Write grant proposals to procure external research funding. AI drafts proposal sections and budgets; investigator shapes and submits. | 55% AI helps |
| Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others. AI drafts exam questions and grades objective items; instructor supervises. | 50% AI helps |
| Select and invite guest speakers to speak to classes. AI drafts invitations and scheduling messages; teacher chooses speakers. | 50% AI helps |
| Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and present findings in professional journals, books, electronic media, or at professional conferences. AI speeds literature review and analysis; researcher leads and verifies findings. | 45% AI helps |
Show the other 15 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers. AI can draft feedback and score routine work; teacher reviews grades. | 45% AI helps |
| Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as collection development, archival methods, and indexing and abstracting. AI drafts lecture content; teacher delivers and adapts live. | 40% AI helps |
| Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks. AI can recommend textbooks and draft orders; selection is judgment-based. | 40% AI helps |
| Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities. AI automates some registration tasks; placement involves personal contact. | 30% AI helps |
| Provide professional consulting services to government or industry. AI aids research and drafting; expert consulting remains accountable human work. | 30% AI helps |
| Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, giving presentations at conferences, and serving on committees in professional associations. AI summarizes reading; networking and conference presence stay human. | 25% AI helps |
| Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues. AI supplies program and career information; advising relationship stays human. | 25% AI helps |
| Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head. AI handles some paperwork; leadership and personnel decisions stay human. | 25% AI helps |
| Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work. Mentoring students in research and internships is relational and hands-on. | 15% Needs a person |
| Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues. Collaboration depends on interpersonal exchange and shared judgment. | 15% Needs a person |
| Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues. Committee deliberation and institutional decisions require human judgment. | 15% Needs a person |
| Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students. Office hours are live, personal advising sessions with students. | 15% Needs a person |
| Act as advisers to student organizations. Advising student organizations is in-person, relationship-driven work. | 10% Needs a person |
| Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. Live facilitation of discussion requires real-time human interaction. | 8% Needs a person |
| Participate in campus and community events. Attending campus and community events needs physical presence. | 5% Needs a person |
How library science professors compare
All occupations (923)
Educational instruction and library (62)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $80,340 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 3,630 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +2.7% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Moderate live seminar discussions with graded participation rubrics
- Verify AI-compiled bibliographies against WorldCat catalog records
- Supervise graduate research projects and student internships in person
- Build digital collection metadata in XML and SQL
- Review AI-drafted syllabi and handouts in Microsoft Word
- Sit on academic committees that set departmental policy
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about library science professors and AI
Will AI replace library science professors?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining attendance and grade records and preparing course materials such as syllabi. Live classroom discussion, mentoring, and committee work stay with people because they need a person in the room.
Which tasks is AI taking over for library science professors?
Attendance and grade tracking, syllabus and handout drafting, and bibliography compilation carry the highest exposure, with scores of 75 and 70. AI handles structured data entry and literature searches quickly, while the instructor still reviews each output and verifies every citation before students see it.
Which tasks stay human for library science professors?
Moderating classroom discussions scores 8 on exposure, the lowest in the job, because it needs real-time reading of students. Supervising research and internships scores 15 since mentoring is relational and hands-on. Committee deliberation also stays human, because institutional decisions depend on shared judgment.
How can library science professors stay valuable as AI spreads?
Keep live seminars, student research supervision, and committee service at the center of the role. Use AI to draft assignments in Microsoft Word and Google Docs, then check every bibliography entry against WorldCat records before it reaches students. Learn SQL and XML to manage digital collection metadata.
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