BISG and AI: A Working Group Update

In December 2023, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) launched a new working group to examine the impact and potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) within the book publishing industry. Since then, the AI Working Group, which reports to the Workflow Committee, has met to gather information on current AI use cases, identify benefits and risks, and develop best practices for responsible AI adoption within the publishing community. For further details, you can read the AI working group charter. 

The AI Working Group has identified several key areas for AI application within publishing:

• Editorial content creation and management: AI’s potential to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of content generation, editing, and proofreading.
• Metadata and rights management: Leveraging AI to handle complex metadata
  frameworks and manage rights more efficiently.
• Accessibility: Using AI to improve accessibility for disabled readers
• Forecasting: Predict market trends more accurately.

Despite the promising applications, AI also introduces a set of complex challenges:

• Copyright and intellectual property concerns: Questions about the legality of ingesting
  copyrighted material, as well as around the creation of original content using AI tools.
• Data accuracy and security: The risk of inaccurate data feeding AI engines and the
  increased threat of cybersecurity breaches.
• Ethical considerations: Issues such as the perpetuation of bias and the potential to replace publishing jobs.

To address the challenges, the AI Working Group has outlined several strategic initiatives:

• Industry surveys and definitions: Conduct surveys to gather industry insights on current and potential AI uses, and to establish clear definitions for what AI means within the context of book publishing.
• Best practices and standards development: Recommending best practices related to AI
  usage, linked to ethical guidelines, existing regulations, and laws. This includes
  transparency in AI-generated content and disclosure to consumers.
• Periodic reporting and reviews: Offering periodic reports to help the industry adapt to the rapid changes brought about by AI technologies.

The group meets every other month, typically at 3 p.m. ET on the second Wednesday of even-numbered months. Confirmed dates and times are posted on the BISG calendar. To join this working group, BISG members can update their BISG member profile. Nonmembers should reach out to Operations Manager Brooke Horn (brooke@bisg.org).

New AI Webinar Series

As part of the AI Working Group's ongoing exploration of AI’s impact on book publishing, I'm excited to announce, in partnership with BISG, the launch of a series of one-hour webinars starting this month. The aim of the series is to tackle AI and publishing topics, rather than trying to encompass all of the broad and complex issues in just a few sessions. The series is not designed as “AI for beginners,” but neither will it assume AI expertise. 

The first session on May 28, Can AI be Detected in Writing, will delve into this hot-button issue. Whether you’re in favor of AI, or concerned and perhaps opposed, what publisher doesn’t want to know if authors are using AI tools without disclosing their use? There are ethical issues in play here, and, just as importantly, copyright issues, as the US Copyright Office continues to struggle with whether AI-generated content can be protected under its auspices. To read more, please visit https://www.copyright.gov/ai/. But even if you want to detect the use of AI in work submitted by your authors, is it even possible? More than one vendor will swear that they can help you smell a rat, but several experts question whether the available technology can tackle this challenge.

The second session on June 25, Can AI Be Useful in Book Translation, addresses a very different, but perhaps even more contentious issue. You’ve already played with Google translate. Useful, but prone to errors. Lots of errors. Are you going to trust a whole book with that? Of course there’s much more to high-end translation software than what Google offers. But even so… can you imagine handing it an entire manuscript? Is it about accuracy, or is it about being faithful to the tone and intent of the author? Can you
have both? 

I hope you’ll join us later this month and next as we continue the discussion about the impact of artificial intelligence on writing and publishing. The first two webinars will be free to attend: further sessions will be announced.