AI Is Rewriting Publishing But The Human Touch Is Irreplaceable
Publishing has always been shaped by technology but Artificial Intelligence has made inroads into our workflow as well. It doesn’t just change how books move, it changes how they are made. From the first draft to the final recommendation engine, AI is now embedded in every stage of the chain. The question before us is no longer whether AI will transform this industry; the question is whether we will shape it or be shaped by it.
As Sahil Gupta, Director-Founder of V&S Publishers, puts it in his perspective this issue:“This one is not solely about speed or distribution; it is about intelligence itself entering our workflows, offering both tremendous promise and serious responsibility.”
In scholarly publishing, CACTUS Communications CEO Akhilesh Ayer offers a model for responsible AI deployment, where machine intelligence shoulders repetitive tasks while human experts retain final authority. Their AI-powered screening has cut desk rejections by nearly 70% and earned the company the ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification for AI governance.
Meanwhile, publishing consultant Fatimah Abbas has turned AI toward piracy detection, building a book-first monitoring tool that gives publishers early visibility over unauthorised sharing, including in regional languages that global platforms routinely miss.“Technology becomes a threat only when we treat it as an enemy. When we approach it as a collaborator, it actually strengthens our work,” she says.
Even as algorithms reshape discovery, readers are still showing up in extraordinary numbers at various book events held across the country. This year, New Delhi World Book Fair 2026 at Bharat Mandapam drew over two million visitors, with Qatar as Guest of Honour and more than 1,000 publishers from 35 countries. Chennai International Book Fair 2026 in Chennai attracted publishers from 102 countries, generating over 3,000 MoUs and cementing India’s place as a global rights hub. Another stellar event was the Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 which brought the literary world to Jaipur across five electric January days, with voices spanning literature, geopolitics, digital futures, and culture while the Jaipur BookMark conclave kept the publishing trade firmly in conversation.
Across the Arabian Sea, the Sharjah Festival of African Literature 2026 drew 11,108 visitors under its “The African Way” theme, weaving together 20 African writers, 9 Emirati authors, poetry, culinary sessions, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Tsitsi Dangarembga. While,London Book Fair 2026 at Olympia London put AI and copyright squarely on the main stage, with India among the strongest international delegations. The next literary destination is the upcoming BolognaBookPlus and the 63rd Bologna Children Book Fair, which is set to bring together 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries, with Norway as Guest of Honour, reminding us that children’s literature is also thriving in this digital age.
AI will continue to write faster, translate wider, screen smarter, and market sharper. But, the human touch is irreplaceable. The onus is on the publishing industry to use every tool at our disposal to put more books in the right hands.
Shweta
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com