A couple of years ago, the AI question for most publishers was whether to experiment. That has been settled. AI is now at work in newsrooms, archives, ad sales and production, and the harder conversation is about what it is doing to the business around it.
Search is the pressure point. Answer engines summarise journalism without sending the reader on, and referral traffic is falling as a result. Publishers are split between signing licensing deals and blocking crawlers, with more of them now looking to negotiate collectively. Before any contract is signed, it is worth knowing which of your content is genuinely hard to replace and exactly what rights are being sold.
AI might be able to knock out something quickly, but speed isn’t the same as value and fluency isn’t the same as truth.
Toby Wiseman AI in practice: Hearst UK
Inside the business the picture is brighter. Regional groups use AI-assisted reporting for routine local stories, which frees other reporters to get out of the office. B2B publishers have turned deep archives into search tools that answer readers' questions, and at least one has sold subscriptions off the back of it.
Whether the human checks survive cost pressure is the open question. So far, the industry's bet is that original, specialist journalism and a direct relationship with readers will hold their value however the technology moves.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on AI in publishing, from licensing strategy and search to newsroom case studies and editorial policy, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
Before rushing in to make deals with AI companies, publishers need to properly evaluate the value of their content, says Sajeeda Merali, CEO of the Professional Publishers Association.
The biggest puzzle for publishers today is where to find audiences and how to keep them. How to meet this challenge was the focus of the latest AOP CRUNCH event, writes AOP’s Richard Reeves.
emap’s Nursing Times was quick to explore the potential of AI when it launched its LLM search service last year. Sixteen months on, Robin Booth tells us what they’ve achieved so far and how they plan to use AI next.
Newsquest has published over 10,000 articles with the aid of AI. Jody Doherty-Cove, head of editorial AI, tells us how and why Newsquest is deploying AI across its newsrooms.
Toby Wiseman, MD, content, tells us how Hearst UK is using AI now and where he sees the best opportunities for future development.
Most publishers are trialling AI tools to some degree, but how many are actually seeing quantifiable benefits from their efforts? Meg Carter talks to Ana Jakimovska, head of AI strategy at Mediahuis, about their approach to AI adoption.
Steve Pinches, chief product and technology officer at Which?, looks at the tech opportunities and challenges facing his company and the wider consumer publishing sector.
Peter Barr-Watson, chief technology officer at The Independent, looks at the tech opportunities and challenges facing his company and the wider news media sector.
Reuters Institute’s ‘Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026’ report shows how publishers are reacting to the twin threats from AI answer engines and human creators, writes Nic Newman.
Having humans involved in the process has been what’s given publishers the license to explore all that artificial intelligence has to offer…
Richard Reeves, AOP’s managing director, summarises the key takeaways from their latest research project, ‘Digital Publishing: Outlook and Priorities for 2023’.
Artificial intelligence looks set to change the world. Will it be for the better?
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker’s views on government immigration policy caused a crisis at the BBC in March. Dickon Ross looks at the rights and wrongs of airing personal opinions.
There was no sugar coating it at the recent SoE conference. The press faces a number of considerable challenges – rising costs, the implications of AI and an increasingly difficult to deal with police force.
Atex Global Media has announced the release of generative AI capabilities in its image editor, Matik.
Cambridge says new guidelines will help researchers use generative AI tools like ChatGPT while upholding academic standards around transparency, plagiarism, accuracy and originality.
Where will publishers be focusing their efforts over the next twelve months? What metrics will be guiding them and what tech choices will they face? John Barnes looks ahead…
What’s the outlook for academic media? Mandy Hill, managing director, academic, at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, looks forward.
With digital transformation and emerging new tech trends continuing apace, we grab five minutes with BlueToad’s Les Csönge to get his take on digital publishing.
Is ChatGPT the next big thing? James Evelegh has a play.
Claire Dracott has been appointed as director of News UK’s new technology innovation team.
The Financial Times has announced the appointment of Madhumita Murgia as its first Artificial Intelligence editor.
Atex has signed a partnership with Froomle to enhance personalisation on digital publishing.
Having users on your site is one thing, doing something with them is another, says Apester CEO Itay Gissin. It’s important to encourage interaction, capture the resulting data points and then use that data to personalise the user experience.
A new report, ‘Data-Driven Supply in Newspapers & Magazines’, digs into how the old print and retail supply chains are adapting to the new world of digital, data-driven, direct-to-consumer media activity.
