ePublishing releases 'The State of AI in Publishing' report

ePublishing, which helps publishers drive more revenue, productivity and engagement with its AI-powered modern media tech stack, announced the release of its first annual State of AI in Publishing report, based on its survey of publishers.

The study provides a close look at the role AI is playing and will play in the publishing industry. ePublishing asked publishers about their expectations for the technology and what worries them most about its impact.

“Our goal in conducting this survey was to gain a deeper understand­ing of publishers’ views of AI,” said Mike Pirello, CEO of ePublishing. “We wanted to uncover the challenges this technology poses to publishers, as well as the opportunities it provides.”

The report draws from an ePublishing survey of news, B2B, B2C, data and journal publishers and includes insights based on interviews done with publishers across segments. The survey was completed in June 2024.

Key findings include:

• Few publishers in the survey are actively using AI today in content creation. About a third are using AI to write promotional and marketing copy, headlines and social media content. About a fifth said they were using AI to draft articles. Publishers expect to slightly increase their use of AI in these areas in the next 12 months.
• Other uses for AI include interview transcription (32%) and image creation (27%). Workflow improvements are also on publishers’ radar, with a fifth saying they’re already leveraging AI for this purpose.
• Publishers have their eyes open about the potential pitfalls of AI and are keeping it on a short leash. Top concerns include its impact on editorial integrity, inaccurate or misleading content, and IP rights infringement.
• Publishers are starting to put up guardrails around AI by limiting the use of certain AI tools and setting up internal policies to govern its use.
• The greatest opportunity for AI for publishers will be enhancing marketing and engagement, including targeted content and recommendations.
• Some publishers are thinking forward with AI. For example, one is looking at integrating AI into its website to vastly improve the search experience. Another is using AI to enhance its data products.

“We’ve already infused AI functionality into our Continuum and Ellington platforms to boost productivity, drive creativity and increase visibility with better SEO,” said ePublishing President and CTO Trey Connell. “Based on this research, we’ll continue to release new AI features to build reader engagement and make publishers’ websites more valuable for their audience, while generating more revenue.”

The full report, “The State of AI in Publishing,” is available free for download at https://www.epublishing.com/state-of-ai-in-publishing-report/.

About ePublishing:

Drive more revenue, productivity and engagement with ePublishing’s modern media tech stack powered by AI. Our efficient and collaborative publishing tools (and their “enter once, distribute anywhere” data flow) unify editorial workflow, DAM, CMS, ecommerce and audience management to save publishing organi­zations countless hours each month. Learn more at epublishing.com..