Leveraging AI Opportunities (and Tackling Challenges) at the NISO Plus Global/Online Conference
Over 200 professionals from across the information community—librarians, publishers, service and tech providers, researchers, and more—joined us virtually last month for our 2025 NISO Plus Global/Online conference.
One of the primary goals of NISO Plus is to generate ideas for future standards initiatives and projects. It is no surprise, then, that AI and its use in scholarly communications—an area certainly in need of guardrails and guideposts—was at the top of the agenda. Indeed, our opening keynote presentation focused on a unique and thought-provoking use for AI in education. Dr. Mark Aldridge, Associate Professor of Screen Histories at Southampton Solent University, kicked off the meeting by sharing his experience leading the consulting team for a BBC Maestro mystery-writing course. The course was taught” by the world-famous novelist Agatha Christie—or rather, an actress, her voice and appearance enhanced with AI, reading insights and advice from Christie’s writings.
Two sessions illustrated the important role of academic libraries in fostering AI literacy, helping students and researchers take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new technology while using it ethically. In another session, panelists discussed potential recommended practices for the use of AI in publishing, highlighting the need for publishers to prioritize transparency and governance. Another covered questions about usage and access that arise as AI adoption grows. And while most of the conversations were focused on generative AI and related tools, a fifth session addressed the use of agentic AI, technology that can make decisions and solve problems autonomously. Finally, our closing keynote also addressed AI technologies, albeit from a different perspective. Nancy Kirkpatrick, Dean of Libraries at Smith College, shared her advice on fostering resilience during times of uncertainty and change—times driven in part by rapidly evolving technologies.
Early feedback from conference attendees indicated that the AI sessions were useful (over 40% cited one or more as the most valuable) and some wanted even more AI-related content, particularly on developing AI policy and assessing AI tools. (Note that our upcoming training series on AI Essentials, launching October 9, features sessions on these very topics!) And If you missed the conference but want to join the conversation next time, our in-person NISO Plus meeting in Baltimore is scheduled for February 16–18, 2026. (Better yet, why not propose a session idea? The call for proposals is open now through October 17.) We will be sure to continue the conversation about AI as well as many other hot topics in the information community.