Publishing today has become a worthwhile enterprise. Thanks to leaps in information, networks and distribution have enabled dissemination in becoming efficient. Yet, the role of the publisher was not always so simply defined. For a start, publishing emerged exigently with the invention of writing – introducing a way to retain records in material form, typically imprinted by hand with a woodblock.
It’s often too easy to disregard the impact of publishing developments in Asia, but history indicates that the printing press developed just as steadily in Asia, even before the rest of the world.
Moveable wood type, invented in China in the 11th century, was the first step towards mass print production worldwide, developing further in Korea with moveable metal type in the 13th century. Moveable metal presses appeared in Europe much later with the invention of the Gutenberg Press in the 15th century, subsequently causing a printing revolution and remaining a staple of the printing press until the Industrial Revolution.
The possibility of mass production performed a special role in propagating religious doctrine, leading to the greater prominence of Buddhism in East Asia and Christianity in Europe. In this sense, it was rather limited in scope, primarily platforming religious texts and, for fiction, typically white and/or male writers for centuries.
We can see that in its nascent years, publishing established a new trajectory of recordkeeping beyond anachronistic oral tradition, but the advent of mass production enabled the industry to gain a foothold.
What, then, does the future hold for publishing?
As we advance past a rudimentary system of publishing centred around printing to disseminate, there seems to be a greater focus than ever on matters of voice. Diversity and accessibility are especially notable topics discussed in earlier blog posts, emphasising a need to break away from the privileged cultural hegemony that has gripped the publishing industry for centuries.
However, perhaps the most contentious issue for the future of creative industries now is the concept of moving beyond human creation. The tech dystopia of WALL•E is looking less unfathomable as AI programs become more and more intelligent. ChatGPT was released just 5 months ago in November and has only gained more traction over time for its ability to synthesise information, engage in conversation, and provide assistance for everything from menial tasks to creative writing itself.
AI art is similarly taking the world by storm, appearing in all kinds of filters and online apps that “create” art. I stress “creation” in uncertain terms because AI programming critically relies on human creation to begin with, causing an ethical quandary of ownership. AIs source their knowledge base from established writing and artwork, essentially stealing these ideas and regurgitating them in a new form, so “generate” may be a more apt term for this process.
But it seems that AI programs perform so well that publishers are even recognising their productivity. There are already cases of AI art appearing on book covers, such as in Fractal Noise, published by Tor Books. While there has been a massive pushback leading to poor reviews (even ahead of its release in May), it already sets a precedent for doing away with creatives altogether in favour of AIs.
In short, the future of publishing appears both promising and unsettling all the same. It’s more than a little uncomfortable to consider that in a time where we’re beginning to recognise the importance of diverse voices, those same voices are threatened to be superseded by unfeeling insentience. You might not even notice a difference between AI-generated work and one created by a human, showing just how eerily AI has assimilated human production.
Although it’s yet to take over the industry, the ease of use and efficiency of AI set dangerous precedents; it’s up to us both as publishers and consumers to ensure that the inherent human element of creating is not lost to a tech future.
Written by Meeraj Hussain
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