Independent Thinking on Publishing's Future
Introduction Perplexity’s Comet is an AI browser that can search, summarise and act on a user’s behalf. If browsing becomes something an agent does for us, publishers lose the click that their traffic, advertising and subscription models depend on. This article looks at what Comet does and what it means for publishers. Key points The … Read more
Introduction AI now touches every stage of publishing, from drafting and editing to peer review, marketing and discovery. This article looks at where it is useful, where it creates new legal and ethical problems, and why human judgement still decides what gets published. Key points The publishing world has always been a rather slow-moving beast, … Read more
Introduction Perplexity AI is changing how researchers find and read academic work, by answering questions with cited summaries instead of a list of links. That is useful for literature reviews and editorial work, but it also threatens the traffic and licensing income publishers depend on. Key points For those of us steeped in the production, … Read more
Introduction The academic publishing industry has long been proficient in two key areas: controlling access to scholarly knowledge and profiting from it. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, big academic publishers aren’t merely adapting; they’re taking the lead. AI is no longer a toy for experimental labs. It’s a comprehensive strategy, a fundamental infrastructure … Read more
Introduction AI is already part of scientific publishing, from literature search and writing support to peer-review triage, fraud detection and metadata. This article looks at each stage of the pipeline, what is changing, and the ethical and legal questions publishers still have to settle. Key points The scientific publishing industry has long been a slow-moving … Read more