Wiley’s Jarrett on how responsible AI can be a game changer in publishing industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly changing the way researchers engage with their audiences and is transforming the scholarly publishing sector to be more technology-focused. In an interview with TechCircle, Josh Jarrett, Senior Vice-President of AI Growth at Wiley, a global research and publishing provider with a robust presence in India, noted that while human input remains essential for publication authorship, AI's contribution is steadily increasing. He explained how Wiley is utilising responsible AI/ML (Machine Learning) to enhance the publishing experience while prioritising ethical considerations. Edited excerpts:

How can AI be utilised by researchers for effective scholarly publishing?

Wiley has made a strategic decision to embrace AI to improve research practices for quite some time now. Recent surveys reveal that researchers are wrestling with core questions about AI's potential to refine language, analyse complex data, and generate innovative hypotheses. We are particularly enthusiastic about AI's capability to streamline research workflows, assist with literature reviews, identify unexplored gaps, generate simulations, and support the authoring process. However, we also recognise the divide between enthusiastic early adopters and cautious scholars. Our goal is to bridge this gap by establishing robust standards, guidelines, processes, and tools that maintain integrity, ensuring that Wiley and its partners shape the future of AI in research.

Which technologies is Wiley focusing on to improve the publishing experience?

Wiley is concentrating on three strategic domains to enhance the publishing experience: boosting colleague productivity, driving innovation in publishing, and identifying growth opportunities. This includes developing intelligent tools to optimise editorial processes, revolutionise content discovery, and provide comprehensive support for researchers. The recently launched Wiley AI Partnerships: A Co-Innovation Program is a key initiative designed to create advanced AI applications that meet the specific challenges faced by researchers, transforming the landscape of research acceleration and accuracy. Our ultimate goal is to empower researchers with intelligent, efficient tools that enhance, rather than replace, human intellectual expertise.

What steps should the research community take to examine AI-assisted research?

Our research indicates that 70% of authors seek explicit guidance from publishers on responsible AI use. Therefore, practical frameworks need to mandate clear disclosures about AI tools throughout the research process, covering data analysis, manuscript drafting, and hypothesis generation. We advocate for leveraging AI to support the overburdened peer review system while preserving human insight and exploring novel reviewer training approaches. The scholarly community must establish ethical standards that uphold human oversight and intellectual rigour alongside technological advancements. We aim to create an ecosystem where AI complements human creativity and critical thinking.

What is the impact of LLMs and AI on content licensing in scholarly publishing?

In terms of content licensing, we are observing a dynamic landscape segmented into three main domains: foundational LLM (Large Language Model) training, customised model fine-tuning, and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). Licensing serves as our primary means of protecting intellectual property as many large language models have been trained on copyrighted material under questionable "fair use" claims. We are creating a structured marketplace that honours copyright, ensures fair compensation, and fosters transparency in content attribution, matching content with specific use cases, and advocating for non-confidential agreements that clarify training data provenance.

How are conventional publishing industry aspects evolving with research integrity?

Technology is reshaping research integrity, with AI driving deeper discussions about ethical content creation and requiring more sophisticated verification mechanisms. Publishers can no longer be passive; we must actively develop ethical systems for AI-assisted research through advanced detection technologies and comprehensive guidelines for AI usage. Our commitment extends beyond technology to safeguard the scholarly record while embracing AI's potential, ensuring it aligns with our core values of rigour, transparency, and discovery.

What AI and GenAI-related challenges do publishing companies face, and how does Wiley address ethical concerns?

Publishing companies face various challenges, including copyright issues, proper attribution, data privacy, and algorithmic bias. We adopt a proactive and principled approach, believing that engaging with AI allows us to shape the ecosystem more effectively. This entails responsible licensing, transparent frameworks, and establishing industry standards. Our AI Growth team focuses on partnerships with AI developers, startups, and other publishers to create the frameworks and legal agreements necessary to address these challenges, allowing us to define an ethical blueprint for responsible AI integration in scholarly publishing.

What role does AI play in promoting open science, transparency, and reproducibility?

AI is opening doors like never before, democratising how science is done. With intelligent tools for data analysis, hypothesis generation, and research discovery, it's making scientific methods more accessible and fostering collaboration across the board. Transparency is a fundamental principle in our AI approach; we are developing standardised disclosure frameworks to help researchers document their AI tool usage, enabling the scientific community to validate and build upon findings. While achieving reproducibility may be more complex with AI, our guidelines aim to balance the unique contributions of human intellect with computational intelligence to accelerate breakthroughs.