Report: The First Scientific Symposium on Libraries and Information Science in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The report presents the First Scientific Symposium of Library and Information Science in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (SLIS-1), held in Cairo in December 2025. The symposium was organized by the Arab Group for Artificial Intelligence and sponsored by the Egyptian Library, Information, and Archives Association, serving as an academic and professional platform that discussed the profound transformation brought about by artificial intelligence in libraries and knowledge institutions. Through scientific sessions and applied workshops, the symposium addressed issues related to smart libraries, AI-supported scientific research, the digitization of heritage and manuscripts, health informatics, new information literacy, and user data analytics, while highlighting ethical and legislative dimensions and the challenges associated with Arab digital sovereignty. Participants’ contributions emphasized the shift in the role of library professionals from resource organization to knowledge engineering, as well as the importance of partnerships with the private sector, adopting open-source systems, and investing in Arabic data to build local artificial intelligence models. The symposium concluded with a set of strategic recommendations, namely updating curricula of library and information science departments, establishing ethical frameworks for the use of artificial intelligence, and strengthening integration among academics, technologists, and policymakers in a way that supports the development of Arab libraries in light of rapid digital transformations.