VOL.69/2024.04

 

[Publishing & AI]

The AI Storm Sweeps the Publishing Industry: Chat GPT

 

2023.10.04

 

In 2016, Lee Se-Dol, one of the world’s greatest Go players, faced off against Alpha Go, an artificial intelligence (AI) program developed by Google’s Deep Mind, which was like the match of the century. Few expected Lee to lose, and Lee Se-Dol was humble enough to say he might lose one out of five games. But a few days later, the internet was abuzz with news of Lee’s shock defeat by Alpha Go. That was the beginning. Lee Se-Dol managed to get one win after a string of losses. His overall score was 1-4. In retrospect, the idea of a human beating Alpha Go, which had learned every recorded move in the game, was almost impossible. It was just that people didn’t realize the immense power of AI at the time.
Fast-forward seven years to 2023 in Korea, and AI is being utilized across industries. AI is spreading to various fields, such as mobility, robotics, and the medical industry. In particular, the introduction of Chat GPT, a generative AI, at the end of last year, sparked the generalization of AI. Office workers and students began to use AI technology in everyday life while working or doing assignments.
The publishing industry, which is sensitive to changes in the world, is also nimbly responding to these market changes. Korean publishers are actively responding to the AI era by releasing books one after another, including those written by Chat GPT.

 

 

The Chat GPT craze shook the publishing industry

 

There have been several books on AI, but the first book written using Chat GPT was released last February. The book, 45 Ways to Find the Purpose of Life (Snowfox Books), was written, edited, and proofread by Chat GPT. Excluding printing and publishing, Chat GPT completed the entire editing process, including writing, translating, proofreading, and editing, in just 30 hours. The translation was done with the help of Naver’s automatic translation AI, “Papago.” It took just two days to complete what would have taken months or years for humans. The book included both the original Korean text and the English translation. The AI also generated several cover designs, one of which was selected by the editors.
An official from Snowfox Books, the book’s publisher, said, “We carried out this project to see the capabilities and possibilities of AI out of a sense of crisis that the publishing industry will suffer if the AI technology is adopted in earnest.” Starting with the book 45 Ways to Find the Purpose of Life, books on Chat GPT have literally been flooding Korean bookstores. More than 200 books have been published from late February to early September. It has been exceptional to see so many books on a single topic published in just over half a year. Some of them even hit the bestseller lists. For example, A World Where Questions Earn You Money: Chat GPT (Media Soop) reached the top three bestsellers at the Korean bookstore Kyobo Book Centre, and other books such as The GPT Generation (Book Moment) and Asking the Future of Humanity to Chat GPT (Dongasia Books) were among the top bestsellers in the economic and business books category.

 

 

Why is Chat GPT a hot issue?

 

The reason why Chat GPT-related books are flooding the market and attracting readers’ attention is because of their scalability and practicality. In the early days, books on Chat GPT were mainly introductory and experiential, such as the aforementioned books Asking the Future of Humanity to Chat GPT by KAIST Professor Kim Dae-Sik and AI Going Beyond Borders (Gimmyoung Publishing). But, in recent years, many practical books have appeared that suggest ways to use Chat GPT for business, work, and study.
For example, books such as Writing in the Era of Chat GPT (Maeil Business Newspaper) attracted readers’ attention by claiming that anyone can write Hollywood blockbuster scenarios, self-help books, marketing content, and specialized books on science, philosophy, law, and religion by utilizing Chat GPT. Recently, a number of books have appeared that explain how to utilize Chat GPT by segmenting the contents by topic. Also, Kim Chul-Soo’s Writing with Chat GPT (Wiki Books) and Oh Soo-Min’s Working with Chat GPT’s Texts (Barun Books) are books that teach you how to write and organize stories using Chat GPT.

 

 

More than 20 books linking education and Chat GPT have already been published. Most of them are related to language education, especially English language education. While there are some books for adults, such as A Chat GPT-driven Revolution of Learning English Alone (Nexus), many books explain how to use Chat GPT for elementary, middle, and high school students. For example, Joyce Park’s How to Study English Using Chat GPT (Smart Books) has gained attention, as an English education expert who has taught English for 30 years showed how to use Chat GPT to improve English speaking, listening, reading, writing, and vocabulary.
This came as Chat GPT gained recognition as a way to reduce the cost of private English education in Korea. Private education providers, such as hagwon (cram schools), have expressed concerns, while demanders, such as parents, have expressed optimism, closely watching the impact of Chat GPT on private education. According to the “2022 Expenditure Survey on Private Education for Elementary, Middle, and High Schools” released by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea, the total cost of English private education amounted to 7.79 trillion won. English dominates the overall private education market in Korea, accounting for 30.1% of the total market (25.923 trillion won). Joyce Park, author of Joyce Park’s How to Study English Using Chat GPT, says in the book, “You can get various reading materials through Chat GPT, and you can also make fun storybooks such as English stories and crossword puzzles.” “Chat GPT is a treasure chest for moms who teach English to their kids,” he added.

 

 

While Chat GPT advances day by day, what are the prospects?

 

Many experts say Chat GPT will have a powerful impact on all areas of society, including education, industry, and journalism. This is because it can write a dramatic Korean drama in a minute by simply entering certain conditions, complete a variety of essays from high school to doctoral level, and summarize a huge amount of documents into just one or two pages in an instant. Even journalists who have to read countless documents can produce dozens of articles a day, and it is expected that automation and mass production will be possible in many sectors, such as intellectual writing, research, and education. However, since Chat GPT is a system that pre-learns the “probability relationship” between sentences through deep learning before answering, it sometimes tells believable lies. This means that it hasn’t yet reached the level of an expert in each field.
For this reason, Chat GPT is likely to remain a supplementary tool for now. It has been pointed out that in the case of medical care, where human lives are at stake, a conservative approach is needed, as incorrect information or judgment in Chat GPT can have fatal consequences. The media is also cautiously introducing AI, such as Chat GPT, into their articles. It seems that Chat GPT is or will be utilized for simple quotations, dictations, and formatted articles such as market conditions and weather forecasts. However, it is observed that it is still difficult to utilize it for writing in-depth articles that require a high degree of judgment and interviewing.

 

 

Chat GPT and the future of the Korean publishing industry

 

The situation in Korea’s publishing industry is similar to that of other industries. The emergence of AI that can write and translate at a very high level is expected to have a major impact on the publishing industry. According to the book Post-Chat GPT (Hanbit Biz), in which experts in each field analyze the impact of Chat GPT on their respective fields, it is expected that publishers will become less dependent on translators. In other words, editors will be able to improve the quality of translations by proactively editing them after using AI to translate without translators. It is effective in that a relatively inexpensive AI program can be used to mass-produce many books and speed up translation time.

 

 

Chat GPT is also likely to have a positive impact on the export of Korean content. This is because AI translation can virtually break down regional and linguistic barriers that currently characterize the publishing industry, making it possible to introduce K-books to various countries. In addition, small publishers, such as single-person publishers, who have relatively little capital compared to large publishers, may also have a chance.
Writers can also get help. Many aspiring writers who have experience and content to write about but lack writing skills will be able to challenge content areas thanks to Chat GPT, which stores plenty of writing know-how. The writing process can also be sped up, because AI can help writers in various ways, such as searching for articles, summarizing book content, and creating tables and graphs. Editing will also become easier. AI might also have a decisive impact on editorial work, including publication planning, proofreading, and content creation.
However, many in the publishing industry point out that the answers provided by Chat GPT are not yet 100% reliable, meaning that AI can only be used as a supplementary tool for publishing work, not as a complete replacement. Publishing critic Jang Eun-Soo says in the book, “The collaboration between publishing and AI is likely to develop in the future to emphasize the unique experiences of authors and encourage unique writing styles, while strongly verifying them with the help of AI.” It remains to be seen how Chat GPT will affect the Korean publishing industry in the future, and whether it will be positive or negative. However, there is a need for the publishing industry to continue to study and research so that they can utilize the increasingly intelligent AI more wisely.

 

 

---

Written by Song Kwang-Ho (Journalist at Yonhapnews Agency)