Building on our previous work for the Publishers Association, our latest report explores the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the UK publishing industry.

This evidence-based assessment is the first systematic analysis of AI in UK publishing, using interviews, case studies and an industry-wide survey to establish behaviours and attitudes towards AI investment.

AI is already being used by the publishing sector, with early applications driving benefits including content discoverability, intellectual property protection and market prediction. In the longer run, investment in AI by the sector has the potential to free up highly skilled individuals including researchers, authors and teachers to focus on value-add or creative tasks. Larger publishers are leading this drive, though the majority of publishers of all sizes consider that AI will be a key development area for the next five years.

This report presents evidence on the potential for AI investment to generate significant benefits for the UK publishing industry, the wider supply chain, and wider society. It explores how AI could shape and change the sector and how policy could support this.

Our findings reflect the UK government’s wider Industrial Strategy, which identified AI as a key driver of business innovation and future productivity, and recommends strong engagement between the government and the sector to ensure that publishing is fully represented in future policy discussions.

Report co-author, Catherine Etienne, will be speaking about the report at a virtual panel event hosted by the Publishers Association on 8^th October.

For more information, please contact media@frontier-economics.com or call +44 (0) 20 7031 7000