Archival Reference Services in an Age of AI

Current research into AI tools in archives has primarily focused on their utility in technical services and supporting collections management. Studies on using AI in search systems have largely focused on digital materials. However, archival reference practices have largely been developed with the assumption of guiding users to analog collections. Simultaneously, researchers are increasingly exploring AI tools for research and archival discovery and may be relying on chatbot suggestions without ever consulting archivists’ descriptions directly. Archivists, we believe, have a responsibility to understand how AI tools change reference interactions. We explore the ethical implications and archivists’ central role in continuing to support researchers as they develop “archival intelligence” in the context of generative AI.