The Librarian as a Verifier of Bibliographic References Counterfeited by Generative Artificial Intelligence

With the widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models in publishing, libraries are facing a new professional responsibility: ensuring trust in published bibliographic information contained in reference lists (sources). Based on a review of domestic and international studies, this article examines the transformation of the librarian’s role: from navigator of information resources to verifier of validity. It is shown that this role includes identifying bibliographic confabulations (fake or hallucinated references in reference lists generated by generative models), interpreting the results of automatic detection, and developing users’ skills for critically examining generative model responses.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the verification capabilities of librarians in the context of the proliferation of generative AI models and demonstrate their importance for maintaining the credibility of the publishing environment. The materials and methods include an empirical verification of 306 bibliographic references previously confirmed by the author as confabulated. The verification was conducted using specialized automatic detection tools, bibliographic services, and large language models (LLMs).

The results showed that none of the resources used provided 100% agreement with the librarian’s findings. Even the most effective tools required expert interpretation, re-checking, and comparison of data across multiple sources. It was established that automatic detection can be a useful verification step, but does not replace professional judgment regarding the veracity, context, and consequences of the dissemination of fake bibliographic information.

The findings confirm the need for the library community to move from simply discussing the problem of confabulation to implementing regular verification practices, consulting, and user training. In the era of generative AI, librarians are becoming not only information retrieval specialists but also professional guarantors of its veracity. The discussion identifies existing gaps in modern library practice that require prompt intervention to maintain user trust in the information provided by libraries.

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