Thrive During COVID-19 Using AI: Publisher Strategies

The entire world has undergone an unanticipated change brought about by COVID-19. Who could have possibly thought that a few months into the new year would comprise of empty classrooms, uninhabited offices, travel bans, and masked humans? However even amidst such an adverse situation, the world has not come to a total standstill! Learning has switched from Traditional to Digital, work from home is the New Normal, and groceries are now purchased with the click of a button. So, what has enabled us to adapt to this change? The answer is Technology; we are surrounded by so many applications, software, and utilities today that even the most complex of tasks can be sorted out in just a matter of minutes.

PUBLISHING GOES DIGITAL

One such sector that is trying to navigate their way during this pandemic is Publishing. The closure of book shops, the cancellation of book fairs, and the indefinite shut down of printing presses across the globe are adding tremendous pressure to this sector. However, publishers like Cambridge University Press, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (MCPG), and several others have already taken advantage of technology and have made their books, research journals, and worksheets available digitally via eBooks and audiobooks.

Digital Publishing

CHALLENGES FACED

It is important to bear in mind that digitizing and creating tones of engaging print content in a short period is not an easy task to accomplish. The challenges they might encounter are

Lack of workforce
Lack of physical interactions to share ideas
Unavailability of experts
Enormous tedious clerical work
A dearth of intelligent minds to analyze trends

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO THE RESCUE

Progress in digitization has reached a new high ever since the pandemic broke out. AI has risen to sudden fame because of its unique ability to mimic cognitive functions like humans. However, let us set the record straight, AI most certainly cannot replace humans, but it can enable them to enhance their ability to drive performance. Even with respect to educational publishing, AI can play a fundamental role in making content more accessible and engaging for learners across the globe. In the foreseeable future, publishers need to brace themselves for tough competition, they will have to redefine their strategies and shift their focus from a mass experience to a personalized experience for their customers.

IMMEDIATE BENEFITS OF USING AI

1. Automated-written Articles :
  Publishers are quite often left in a fix when they have to hire writers to cover tons of routine stories or articles, and this can lead to extra expenditure and waste of time. With the help of AI, publishers can efficiently generate automated written articles that are unique and free with fewer errors.
2. Better Curation:
  AI can be effectively utilized for better content curation. Its unique ability to sense emotions and behavioral patterns can constructively tell you which content pieces worked and which ones did not work for a particular demographic.
  Digital Publishing
3. Enhanced Content :
  Artificial Intelligence applications can be utilized to suggest visually appealing infographics or catchy lines that make the stories more enriching and engaging. It can help them create a unique brand experience that is uniquely tailored to each individual.
4. Audience Engagement :
  With having to deal with skyrocketing customer expectations AI can help you understand the preferences of the customers through sentiment analysis. AI can be used to mimic conversations with users using chatbots, allowing them to address queries and concerns in real-time.
5. Personalized Experience :
  Publishers can keep a steady track of their audience’s individual journey and the kind of content they respond to at every touchpoint. AI can also perform sentiment analysis to recommend content that would perhaps be more suited to the user’s preference in the future.
  This is just the tip of the iceberg, there is so much more that AI can offer publishers. This pandemic is surely going to change the habits and perspective of people in the days to come and therefore it will ultimately be in their hands to utilize technology to their advantage. Artificial Intelligence is going to be the key to unlock the immense potential of the Publishing sector in the digital world!