A startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create books has raised $37 million in the latest sign of how machine learning is transforming the publishing industry.
Inkitt’s self-titled app allows users to self-publish their stories. Using AI and data science, the stories will be narrowed down and distributed and sold on a separate app, Galatea. The company’s recent funding round shows growing interest in the use of AI in publishing. But while this technology offers opportunities for writers and readers, it also raises concerns.
The promise and perils of AI writing
“For writers, the impact is profound, but it’s also two-sided,” said Zachary Weiner, CEO of Emerging Insider Communications, which focuses on the publishing industry. He said this in an interview with PYMNTS. “The tools at our disposal have expanded exponentially, allowing us to unleash our creativity and concepts with AI-generated prompts and ideas. You can weave together different concepts in complex ways, without the limitations of traditional brainstorming. Additionally, AI provides features that facilitate proofreading and revision, streamlining your workflow and freeing you to focus on your core business. I will make it possible.”
But Weiner warned that AI also poses challenges for publishing. “AI is invading every writing and content job in some way, including editors,” he said. “The replacement of human writers by AI is already underway and inevitable as organizations seek to reduce costs and maximize efficiency.”
The generative AI landscape is rapidly expanding, driven in large part by the pioneering efforts of OpenAI and its contemporaries.
Inkitt’s AI Formula
Inkitt was founded in 2013, the company said in an August 2023 press release. We provide a platform for authors to share their work, engage with readers, and grow their readership. The company achieved a milestone in his 2016 year by selling Bright Star by Erin Swan to her Tor Books, part of her Macmillan Publishers. According to the company, this is the first book predicted to be a bestseller by AI and showcases Inkitt’s approach to leveraging data analytics in publishing decisions.
For publishers like Inkitt, Weiner said, implementing AI will streamline operations and reduce reliance on human resources. Tasks that once required numerous editors, proofreaders, and layout designers can now be performed by a smaller workforce, leading to significant cost savings for publishers.
“And in the digital age, after numerous industry failures and monetization model difficulties, this is incredibly compelling. There are many challenges that arise, from concerns to maintaining editorial integrity,” he said.
AI powers self-publishing
The influx of AI-generated books is flooding self-publishing platforms. About 34 percent of all e-books are self-published on platforms that account for a significant portion of book sales, according to publishing industry research firm WordsRated. The proliferation of content on these platforms coincides with the proliferation of AI applications that leverage large-scale language models (LLMs).
Sol Nasisi, founder of Booksie, a self-publishing site for writers that includes AI tools, said in an interview with PYMNTS that publishers need to adapt to new technology.
“It will become easier to incorporate AI into business processes, especially in the publishing and writing fields. And companies that don’t find ways to use AI to make their products better, faster, and cheaper will struggle to compete. “It will be,” he said. “Furthermore, LLM and generative AI will continue to advance and become more powerful.”
Nasisi said he was concerned that AI would use the site creator’s copyrighted material to train models without their knowledge or consent.
“This needs to change as technology matures so content creators can choose how their content is used and be fairly compensated,” he said.
Limits of AI
While AI is good in certain areas, such as content optimization and data analysis, its capabilities remain limited in other areas, especially when it comes to sensitive tasks, Weiner said.
“AI-driven content also raises some serious questions about authenticity and originality,” he says. “As publishers increasingly rely on AI-generated content to meet demand, there is a risk that the unique voices and perspectives that human writers bring will be diminished.”
Not everyone thinks AI is something to fear for writers and readers. Using AI to aid writing is akin to implementing a grammar checker or letting editors take a hands-on approach to changing manuscripts, he says at the New York Institute of Technology. English professor John Misak said in his PYMNTS interview.
“I believe that if a book is of high quality and the ideas are unique, it is an addition to literature,” he says. “Moreover, many “bad” writers produced great works with the help of on-site editors. When used properly, AI can help make “good” writing more fair. ”
The main danger of AI comes from the fraud it can easily generate, such as copying other authors’ works, creating fake news, and various other deceptive schemes that AI can quickly generate, Misak said. Ta.
According to Misak, a key factor shaping how AI will impact publishing is where readers will be held accountable if something goes wrong.
“Will readers understand that AI content comes from a small number of malicious players, or will they think publishers as a whole are guilty of fabrication?” he said. “If they blame a small number of people, this can act as a protection through review. They may blame the publisher, just as many professors do with student work, and all If we suspect that the text is generated by AI, the problem will spread throughout the industry.”
