Rochester Hills Public Library has published a free online guide explaining to residents how to use artificial intelligence tools for everyday tasks. The guide, "AI and the World Around You," is available on the library's website.

It walks readers through using a smartphone, tablet or computer to snap a photo of mail, a sign or a menu and have AI read or translate it. The guide also covers identifying plants, animals and products by photo, and asking AI to describe surroundings aloud.

Chad Cecchini, an adaptive technology assistant at the library, and Nicki Usiondek, a librarian, wrote the guide. The library’s outreach department also provides the Oakland Talking Book Service (OTBS), a free program that loans audiobooks, large-print materials and talking-book players to eligible blind and print-impaired Oakland County residents.

The authors stress that the tools can help people with and without disabilities, and explain what AI gets wrong. AI may give outdated information, confidently deliver incorrect answers, reflect biases in its training data or misunderstand images, the guide warns. It advises residents not to rely on AI for safety-critical tasks such as detecting obstacles, identifying medications or determining dosages.

Privacy gets its own section. The authors tell readers to avoid sharing sensitive financial information with AI tools and not to photograph or record other people without permission.

The guide also offers four practical tips: give the AI the specific information you want it to work with rather than assuming it knows current facts; state your purpose clearly; add the instruction "If the answer isn't in the information I gave you, say so" to reduce confident-sounding wrong answers; and start a fresh conversation when switching topics.

Cecchini and Usiondek close by connecting those habits to skills librarians have taught. "Where did this information come from? How current is it? Can I verify it somewhere else? Those are the questions librarians have always taught us to ask," they wrote. "The tools are new. The behavior isn't."

Oakland Township residents have full access to the library's resources through a contracted millage agreement with Rochester Hills. Residents who want one-on-one technology help can call 248-650-7158 to schedule an appointment, according to the library’s outreach page. A library card is required to book a 45-minute appointment.