Why AI Now?

The rising cost of print manufacturing has been vexing for several years, though it now appears to be levelling. Increased distribution costs are challenging for all players. These lead to pricing pressures—there’s evidence that readers are beginning to chafe at rising prices for new hardcovers and trade paperbacks. I classify these as ‘analog’ problems—digital technologies bring little to the table to address them.

Then there are the broader ‘existential’ problems that are of ever-increasing concern, but they are inchoate issues, without obvious solutions. Included here are:

• Content discovery and audience engagement via online and social media.

• Changing consumer behavior and reading habits.

• Competition from other digital media.

I believe that AI could be tremendously helpful to publishers in these areas, but the methods are non-obvious and will take time to implement. I’ll address this in later chapters of the book.