AI is affecting everyone - including your patrons. Join us for a presentation on the role public libraries can play in ensuring communities nationwide can decide for themselves what a good AI future looks like. This webinar will cover common AI scenarios you might encounter with patrons and how to respond. Additionally, learn about a vision for how a library can be a leader in the community through hosting discussions. The presenter will share free resources you can use at your convenience to learn about AI alongside your community.

Presented by:

• Andres Ramirez, Director of Partnerships, AI Safety Awareness Project

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• View webinar recording

Webinar attachments

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Related resources and links

• AI Safety Conversations is a nationwide, coalition initiative. Individual libraries, library systems, library associations, and AI safety education organizations have come together to put libraries at the forefront of the public’s understanding of AI. We are in this AI moment in 2026 because conversations regarding what AI should look like, who it should serve, and who it should benefit, have rarely included people that are affected by the technology the most. Watch the progress of this initiative and learn about other events across the US. If you're already interested in leading discussions with plug-and-play facilitated discussions, you can learn more about the initiative here or submit an intake form!  
• AI Safety Conversation's Vision for October - High-level overview of how libraries can start having a say in how AI affects us. 
• Resource Page - Pro bono resources for leading an event at your library
• Flyer for Libraries - One-pager describing what a branch is expected to do and the support a library will receive from AI Safety Conversations
• Weekly Office Hours and Biweekly Interlibrary Calls by AI Safety Conversations - Thursday support calls. 
• Inter-Library call – September 24, 2026 https://luma.com/qu2iu3pq
• NY Times article on 9.3.2026 about the Hugging Face Hack 
• WSJ article on 9.9.2026 about Anthropic researcher quitting over AI fears
• Zvi Mowshowitz’s Substack - Don’t Worry About the Vase - https://thezvi.substack.com/

• Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, book by Karen Hao 
• The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist - trailer on YouTube