As AI reshapes the publishing landscape, the experiments already underway across our community make one thing clear: no organization can navigate this moment alone. Publishers are exploring everything from AI-generated alt text that streamlines accessibility workflows, to inference-based connectors linking content directly into tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT, to engagement analytics that enable a shift from static publishing to dynamic, reader-centric models. But experimentation alone isn't enough, and meaningful progress requires rigor, shared learning, and honest evaluation of what's actually working. That's the environment we're all operating in, one where the most consequential decisions aren't just about what to build, but about who to build with. Publishers will increasingly look to external partners to develop and integrate capabilities that fall outside their core competencies, making strategic partnerships less of a competitive advantage and more of a baseline requirement. Taken together, these perspectives point toward a more interconnected, partner-led ecosystem, where the publisher's role evolves from independent operator to something closer to a curator of best-in-class capabilities.
Here's our contributors' responses to the most interesting tech/AI experiments they've seen in scholarly publishing in the last year:
"Due to the focus we've had, the developments with alt text generation have been interesting in terms of their support for publishers, authors and workflows. Whilst human checking is still important, utilizing AI to support this workflow has massive benefits for cost, time and capacity." —Natalie Jacobs, Chief Product Officer, Emerald Publishing
"Inference-based connectors (MCP servers) linking publisher data directly into AI assistants like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini—offering controlled access and revenue tracking per query." —Jonathan Woahn, Chief Experience Officer, Cashmere
“AI Taxonomy generation and autotagging.” —David Haber, Publishing Ops Director, American Society for Microbiology
"Nothing within publishing is as disruptive as the continuing impact of LLM tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude." —Andrew Smeall, VP, Product Innovation, Sage Publications
"One of the major trends of 2025 has been the proliferation of research integrity tools. It's hard to know which ones work the best as there is little independent verification that's publicly available, which means that each publisher must experiment with the software themselves. Good experiments have protocols written in advance with clear end points defined and evaluated. I doubt many recent ‘experiments’ fulfil these basic criteria." —James Butcher, Director, Journalology
"One of the most exciting experiments in scholarly publishing has definitely been AI-powered engagement analytics. Publishers are experimenting with tools that analyze reading patterns—like which sections get the most attention, how users navigate articles, and even indicators of engagement—to improve business decisions, refine content strategies, improve user experience, and identify new opportunities to provide value. I believe AI is enabling a shift from static publishing to dynamic, reader-centric models that respond in real time to audience needs." —Teo Pulvirenti, Vice President, Global Editorial Strategy, ACS Publications
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