The publishing industry’s relationship with AI, particularly in the UK, can feel frustratingly polarised. I experience it less in other countries where I’m invited to speak either as an author or the CEO of an AI company. For comparison, these have recently included the US, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Morocco, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, China and Taiwan – a fairly varied sample.

Let my position be clear from the start. Creators deserve proper recognition and remuneration. We need technology-enabled systems where rights-holders control how their works are used and can negotiate fair value, at their choice. And frankly, asking AI to produce "creative writing" remains one of its weakest applications, a distraction from its real potential.

In the UK, there is a polarised ecosystem of convictions that artificial intelligence is either the bringer of salvation or destruction. I fear the paralysis and inhibition of opportunity this climate produces. Although I acknowledge the appropriate fears we all hold about job losses, role redundancy and problems with training data’s legitimacy and believe the AI industry could definitely have behaved better than it has so far, I nevertheless plead for a middle path and especially want to incorporate into the discussion how AI can be an author’s creative companion.

There are several compelling ways AI serves positively as a collaborator for authors. Many are already recognising AI’s supportive role, with approximately 45% actively integrating generative AI tools into their writing and marketing processes (BookBub survey, 2025). Let me alight upon a few of them.

Conceptual development: Authors can think aloud with AI. When I’m developing children’s stories, AI helps me explore existing narratives, suitable age ranges, and potential blind spots. It’s like having a brainstorming partner available 24/7 — one that never tires of "what if" questions. I can iterate freely, retaining full creative control.

Research efficiency: When a cobra bites my hero-dog in one story, AI delivers foundational biological insights in minutes, a process that would traditionally take hours of manual research. The creative decisions remain mine, but the accuracy and authenticity of my story significantly benefited from AI’s quick, reliable insights.

Editorial perspective: Even for this column, AI serves as my "fresh eyes", catching logical stumbles or strengthening arguments. It doesn’t edit my voice; rather, it sharpens clarity. AI challenges me to refine and deepen my arguments through iterative questioning and critical feedback loops. I had the pleasure of an editor-in-chief of a major publishing house guiding my manuscript development, but she prompted me to try Editrix AI. It found nuanced problems both she and I had overlooked, including pointing out an inadvertent "ex-pat superiority" vignette in one of my stories. It’s mainly publishers who use Editrix, but authors can hugely benefit from its guidance, too.

For now, I see publishers confidently embracing AI for corporate efficiency, but still being hesitant to see it as part of creative emancipation 

Global accessibility: My business book about AI in publishing has reached Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish, Greek, Tamil and Hindi markets – translations economically unfeasible through traditional methods. Publishers report needing just days to polish AI drafts for publication.

The global-AI in-publishing market size is expected to be worth around US$41.2bn by 2033, from US$2.8bn in 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.8%. I’ve been working with Ailaysa, an AI company founded by a translator of 30 years experience. To the basic task of ensuring the new language gets comprehension right, their AI adds context to fine-tune lexicon (like my book about AI in publishing) and culture (so that the translation effuses my generally informal style).

Audio innovation: Voice cloning allowed me to narrate my entire audiobook after reading only three chapters. My Greek publisher is now preparing a Greek-language version using the same voice technology (though apparently my Greek accent is too thick!). Such innovation dramatically increases scalability. Future opportunities include enabling translations between languages rarely bridged commercially, like Romanian to Korean, thus materially enhancing global accessibility. ElevenLabs now has my voice available – a truly unexpected secondary source of income for an author.

Content discovery and audience engagement: AI already influences approximately 35% of online book sales through targeted recommendations. It analyses reader feedback and social media signals, readily uncovering trends and preferences. Authors and publishers can dynamically tailor marketing strategies, ensuring books reach their intended audiences effectively. My observation has been that authors generally hate surrendering their creative time to the task of marketing their work, so any assistance AI gives them here is enthusiastically received.

Publishers, in the age of AI, will find their value proposition to authors increasingly scrutinised. In addition to their invaluable role in book development through personal author relationships, and established distribution and printing technologies, publishers can provide AI as a new technology to enhance author creativity. It likely will not be long before acquisition meetings discuss which bespoke, unique-to-the-publisher AI tools authors can access. For now, I see publishers confidently embracing AI for corporate efficiency, but still being hesitant to see it as part of creative emancipation.

Speaking of business optimisation, AI’s potential extends far beyond authorial support. Publishers already report efficiency gains, using it for editing and proofreading, workflow improvements, and metadata management and rights management, among others.

At Shimmr AI, we are demonstrating how autonomous advertising can understand authorial intent and connect books with predisposed audiences across multiple channels, illuminating titles otherwise invisible.

Publishing has always adapted to new technologies, from Gutenberg to the Kindle. AI is not the end of publishing, but its next great chapter. Those who embrace its collaborative power, both publishers and authors, creatively and commercially, will lead the industry forward.