PRESS
"GERMAN LIBRARIES FORGE AHEAD WITH AI CHATBOT"
Berlin libraries have developed an AI chatbot that chats with users about the library’s collection. The project has attracted international interest, with requests from more than 53 countries.
By Nina Müller
FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), July 3rd, 2024
We are following the ‘Elon Musk approach’,’ says Tilman Scheel, one of the creators of the new AI chatbot for the Association of Berlin Public Libraries (VÖBB). “We send the rocket up, sometimes it crashes and we learn. ”It became clear early on that some experiences can only be made during operation.The chatbot has been active on the VÖBB website for a good three weeks. The association comprises more than 80 libraries and four million media items, including books, magazines and films. The AI chatbot knows them all and chats about them: It is something like the ChatGPT for libraries.
BERLINER SCHNUPPEN (EPISODE 1518)
By Naomi Fearn
Tagesspiegel Checkpoint
– Ooh, you can ask the chatbot here for book recommendations!
– Suggest a book that could solve Berlin’s problems.
-Hmmm… ‘Berlin solves city problems’, 1985 … ‘Berlin solves city problems – next attempt’ 1987, ‘Berlin solves city problems – I swear we’ve got it’ 1992.
"ELECTRONIC ASSISTANT FOR BOOK SEARCHES: BERLIN'S LIBRARIES ARE TURNING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE"
Some of the treasures in Berlin’s libraries are not always easy to find. AI is now available to help you find a book or film more quickly.
By German Press Agency (dpa)
Tagesspiegel, July 2nd, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) can now be used to search the collections of Berlin’s libraries. The Association of Public Libraries in Berlin (VÖBB) has installed a chatbot on its catalogue pages for this purpose. The little electronic helper communicates in more than 90 languages.
When searching for a suitable book or the desired film, sentences or questions can also be used for the search via a speech bubble on the start page. The phrase ‘I remember a book with three crazy old ladies’, for example, suggests three volumes by Finnish author Minna Lindgren.
From the association’s point of view, this opens up the library catalogue to people with disabilities, among others. According to the information provided, the bot consists of two AI systems that first communicate with users and then carry out specialised research in the catalogue in response to diffuse search queries. For example, the system can recognise whether a medium can be classified as funny or exciting, even if this information is not literally stored in the library’s respective data record.
"FUTURE WARS WILL NOT BE ABOUT BOTS BUT ON THE DATA THEY CONSUM"'
Spilling the Digital Beans on AI – Interviews at the Cutting Edge
aitoolssme.com, April 24th, 2024
Interview with Tilman Scheel, CEO of reelport
Tilman and his team have trained an advanced librarian bot capable of selecting media that matches your taste. He is an expert in exploring new technologies and built his career in the new media industry, focusing on streaming when it was hot stuff. Now that AI is the hot stuff, he’s leveraging his skills in digital media to support libraries all around the world.