How is AI being used by academic publishers? Is this technology now accepted as a supplement to or a replacement for human decision-making? Can AI reduce the time to publication for articles, without reducing quality? Questions such as these are of interest to everyone in the academic community. 

UNSILO is running a survey on AI in academic publishing (closing date: 30 September 2019). 

The survey (which is anonymous) explores attitudes to the use of AI, and the extent of take-up of AI tools in the academic publishing workflow. Respondents include authors, publishers, librarians, and others involved in academic publishing. We hope to indicate some demographics on take-up and attitudes through the results, which will be presented at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. 

At this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, in the Academic Publishing theatre in Hall 4.2 (15:00 - 17:00), UNSILO will host two panel sessions, chaired by David Worlock, to present the results and discuss some aspects of them. The panellists will be representatives from across the publishing spectrum. Among the questions the survey raises are:

• In which areas of the publishing workflow AI is already being used
• Factors holding back the adoption of AI
• Which types of AI are in use?
• Where the knowledge resides to manage the AI - in-house or externally? 
• If organisations are checking for bias and ethical issues
• Does AI require taxonomies or can it reduce the need for them?
• Timescale for the adoption of AI