At a time when the very definition of intelligence is being challenged – ‘It’s intelligence, Jim, but not as we know it’ – the publishing industry needs to rethink its knee-jerk responses and head in the copyright sandbox stance and regain control of the AI-in-publishing debate.

I’m guessing many of the leading lights in modern AI technology were still at school, or maybe not even born, when chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov took on IBM’s Deep Blue.

Those in publishing who were not also chess players probably took no interest in that momentous event in New York in 1997 when the world’s greatest ever chess player took on the, at the time, world’s most advanced computer.

Those with a foot in both worlds dared to imagine a future where AI and publishing might co-exist and move forward meaningfully together. But the 2020s AI of generative text and generative video was still firmly in the realms of science fiction.

It all seems like ancient history now, as indeed it is. A quarter decade is a long, long time in tech.

But for those of us old enough to remember, I commend this Gizmodo article by Thomas Germain that summaries the historic moment and puts it in the context of 21st century AI. A wonderful trip down memory lane.

For those too young to remember, I won’t say who/what the winner was. Check out the Gizmodo post.

Today, AI is a different planet. A planet so huge we have yet to even start exploring the surface properly. Not so much Life on Mars as Life on Jupiter.

Mind-blowing discoveries lay ahead, that will change our lives forever. Even our sedentary publishing lives where we try ensure progress happens at a snail’s pace.

Publishing needs to embrace the possibilities of AI, and help define the guidelines, not look the other way, or scream The Sky is Falling.

At a time when the very definitions of intelligence is being challenged – “It’s intelligence, Jim, but not as we know it” – the publishing industry needs to rethink its knee-jerk responses and head-in-the-copyright-sandbox stance and regain control of the AI-in-publishing debate. There’s more at stake here than just jobs and copyright battles, important as they are. AI is going to redefine publishing as we know it.

AI taking over, HAL 2000 style, and putting us all out of business, is not ever going to happen. But for publishers going forward with their eyes wide shut, it may well feel like it.

#AI #ManvsMachine #Chess #DeepBluevsKasparov #AIpublishing #AIandthepublishingindustry #publishingindustry