During the meeting at the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, the prospects for the Cuban Publishing System were also presented, led by the poet and advisor to the Cuban Book Institute (ICL) Josué Pérez. Current speculation is whether AI is a tool, will change what we know or destroy it; this also occurred with the digital book, explained the speaker.

Pérez conceptualized the terms Artificial Intelligence, its types, neural networks, natural language processing, computer vision and robotics.

He assured that such programs are transforming the publishing industry; companies can use it to write, edit, advertise or perform administrative functions, he said.

According to data provided by the ICL advisor, in 2023, 47 percent of book publishers based in the United States used them in design and marketing management, 25 percent for editorial work and 12 percent in content generation.

Right now, AI is being used to generate more than a dozen books in a few days and sell them on platforms like Amazon as if they had been producing them for six months, Pérez said.

He also explained that most book publishing professionals are terrified by generative AI because its versatility could cause the downfall of the sector.

When asking AI itself about this dilemma, it returns that although it is transforming publishers with the automation of tasks, improved efficiency and cost reduction, human creativity remains invaluable in providing originality and a unique perspective.

In this Caribbean nation, the Cubadebate media generates articles based on AI and the Alma Mater magazine has also ventured into it; The Nuevo Milenio publishing house is developing tests on this subject, although it has not yet officially implemented it.

At the end of his conference, Josué Pérez pointed out several interesting points in this regard.

Cuban publishers do not currently have the means to use paid artificial intelligence, but they can take advantage of open source ones to accompany the creative process.

Its use in design, layout, translations, corrections and editing can save between 20 and 70 percent of time and costs, depending on the tools and services used.

This will contribute significantly to the State’s subsidy policy, although the ideal is to develop artificial intelligence that adapts to the needs of each country, region or publisher.

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