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…
Covid-19 has put great strain on publisher workflows and accelerated a number of existing trends as publishers transition to cloud-based solutions making greater use of AI. We grab five minutes with Atex CEO Federico Marturano to find out more.
For many publishers, tech capability is the biggest challenge before, during and after the coronavirus. Jim Bilton looks at what publishers need to be doing.
The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and OpenAthens this week announced a joint partnership to add a new institutional login option on Semantic Scholar.
The March / April issue of InPublishing magazine was published a couple of weeks ago. Editor James Evelegh highlights some of the takeaways from the issue.
Artificial intelligence can do the heavy lifting of data processing, allowing publishers to increase output, become more creative and reach new markets. It’s a huge opportunity, says Rebekah Billingsley, though not without its potential drawbacks.
As with any other part of your publishing operation, circulation can’t be left unattended. You need to work on it constantly. Andy Kirk, managing partner of publishing services provider Perception SaS, outlines six tips for a healthy circulation.
Elpical Software has announced the release of Claro V12, its image enhancement software.
Professor Yu-Chuan (Jack) Li, a researcher of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine and medical informatics, has been appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Health & Care Informatics.
Journalists are under pressure to produce lots of great content, but find themselves spending too much time on repetitive, non-creative tasks. Help is at hand, says Sprylab’s Esra Celebi: let Artificial Intelligence take the strain.
In a world where people are drowning in content, much of it of dubious quality, digital editions from credible publishers can cut-through the noise. We grab five minutes with BlueToad’s Paul DeHart to talk about the latest trends in digital editions.
Nemorin Film & Video has appointed two senior executives to its board as it gears up for a future powered by big data, AI, listening and machine learning.
The September / October issue of InPublishing magazine has just been published. James Evelegh lists six key takeaways from this issue.
Publishers have been talking about AI for years and usage is steadily increasing, but are we moving fast enough? Charlie Beckett says there’s a real risk of publishers being left behind.
The July/August issue of InPublishing magazine has lots of great articles and insights. Here are five of the things I took away from the issue.
Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and how it will change the world. But what does it mean for publishers? What difference can it make to our day-to-day operations and the success of our businesses? A lot!, says Hanifa Dungarwalla.
