These days, one buzzword has been taking the world by storm in almost every facet of life as we know it: AI (or artificial intelligence).
Stories circle of schools dealing with the effects of students using chatbots like ChatGPT to write papers or complete homework assignments, AI generated art clashing with artists trying to sell their work online, and Hollywood executives considering the use of AI to digitally add extras to their movies instead of actually hiring extras. Of course, the concern surrounding artificial intelligence has also spread to the publishing world, which leaves many asking if AI will completely revolutionize the industry or simply burn it to the ground.
To start, there are a great many benefits to the introduction of AI into the publishing industry due to its incredible variability in the functions it has combined with the fact that it is constantly evolving and improving its capabilities. For example, if an author is writing a science fiction novel with a focus on a cerebral world with robots as the protagonists, they could use AI to generate a mock cover for their book in the style they were looking for. This could decrease the time it might take for authors and cover designers to actually find the type or style of cover an author may be looking for since even the most abstract ideas could be illustrated by AI to form a reference point for a cover designer. Other benefits of AI include AI-assisted research, book translation, market analysis, and formatting, among many other possibilities.
However, the important thing to note is that while there may be a minor fee for using AI for any part of the publishing process, there is a major tax to be paid by the publishing industry as a whole. There is a major fear that an overdependence on AI for every phase of publishing will lead to editors, ghost writers, artists, analysts, and anyone else who is involved in the publishing process losing their jobs to AI. Secondly, an overdependence on AI could lead to the disappearance of originality as a result of the use of chatbots to write books. There is a common criticism of all work written by bots like ChatGPT that the work is lifeless and without any sort of personal flair. This criticism certainly has merit, especially considering the many great authors in the history of writing who’s distinct writing style helps accentuate their works. Sure, you could tell a chatbot to write content based on a particular style or author’s writing ticks, but it would still lack that bit of human soul that makes reading so magical.
When all is said and done about AI and the publishing industry, what remains clear is that if you choose to use it in any step of the writing and publishing process, you have to use it intelligently.
So whether you are wondering if artificial intelligence might be beneficial for you to use while creating your book or if you have already taken advantage of some of the benefits AI offers and are wondering where to go from there, reach out to us at PRESStinely for guidance on how to navigate this new technology.
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Kristen & Maira