Eight Predictions for What Generative AI Means for the Business of Editing

Daniel Heuman, CEO and Founder, Intelligent Editing

I've been thinking about the future of editing. Many people have concerns about what AI might mean for the world (and I have my reservations too). But if there’s one thing that developing Draftsmith (our new AI product) has shown, it’s that AI can’t replace editors.

So when it comes to the future of editing, I’m optimistic and hopeful. As we plan for our next phase of Draftsmith, I want to share that vision.

Here are my eight predictions:

1. AI will never understand the author’s voice

AI can be trained to mimic an author’s style. In the business context, it can learn from a department’s entire output to produce deliverables that sounds like the rest of the company’s documents. However, imitating style differs significantly from understanding the author’s voice.

Editors work closely with authors. They respect their voice and try not to alter that even as they bring out what the author was trying to say. AI may do a great impression of Yoda or Tolkien, but it can’t match the nuanced understanding and respect for an author’s voice that human editors provide. As Elyse Lyon argues, copyediting fiction is about a lot more than just mechanics.

2. Editors will embrace AI

Don’t be fooled by their passion for physical books and high-quality stationery. Editors aren’t resistant to technological change. Of course, there are some editors who avoid automation. But the same is true for some lawyers, doctors, bankers, musicians, and everyone else! Let's shatter that stereotype once and for all. Editors collaborate digitally with colleagues around the world. They use sophisticated tools for cleaning up documents, including grammar, formatting, style, plagiarism, and consistency checkers. Many editors worked remotely long before it was cool!

AI will be no different. AI tools will be treated just like any other tool. Editors will figure out where AI goes wrong. Editors will use the tools with caution. As editors master these new tools, they’ll still have a fondness for hardback books and nice pens, but where it can help, they’ll use AI to deliver their work faster and better.

3. Editing will be more important than ever

AI won't eliminate the need for editing. I understand why people are afraid of that. The first time I saw an AI simplify a complex technical sentence into plain English was unforgettable. It’s natural to see that capability and fear for the community of editors. I know I did at first.

When you overcome that initial surprise, you start thinking about what generative AI means for the world of document production:

• There is more mediocre text in the world than ever before.

• The machines that churn out that text aren’t always good at looking things up.

Editing can mean many things. But it’s always about improving documents. And, almost as often, it’s about looking things up and making sure they are right! In a world where only the best (and most thoroughly checked) text will be able to stand out, the demand for skilled editors to enhance and verify content will only increase. Hazel Bird puts this powerfully, in her article Copyediting and AI: a Manifesto:

“If words have power, then editors will be one of the most important bulwarks against the potential negative effects of AI on our culture and indeed our entire species.”

4. Writing will require skills traditionally associated with editing

Have you heard anyone describe how they use ChatGPT for writing? Most people say, “it gives me a starting point that I can edit”. When working with outputs from generative AI, the writer's creativity and the editor's ability to improve text are needed all at once.

5. Small typos will matter less

Generative AI is very good at understanding writing rules. It’s not going to make spelling mistakes, forget the difference between “affect” and “effect”, or hyphenate a word inconsistently. Of course, people interacting with generative AI can still introduce those mistakes and will need editors to correct them. However, from the perspective of the business of editing, that type of error will happen less frequently and make up less of the work that editors do.

6. The transition is going to be hard

While I’m optimistic about the importance of editing as a profession, it’s impossible to ignore that the change is going to be difficult. I know editors who have lost clients to AI. And almost every language professional knows someone affected or who fears being affected. In our survey of language professionals, only 13% of respondents had no concerns at all.

7. Empathy will be an editor’s most important skill

Editing has always been about empathy. Editors view text through the reader’s eyes and try to understand how the audience will engage with it. In the AI age, that understanding will be everything, emphasizing the need for diverse perspectives in the editing profession.

AI generalizes. But writing always needs to resonate with specific audiences. The human editor’s role is to ensure that it truly does.

8. AI will be more useful for editors in specific situations

The world of editing is wide and varied. Fiction editors may use AI differently to non-fiction editors. Someone working with an author for whom English is an additional language may use AI in ways that they wouldn’t typically use it when working with someone who grew up with English.

We created Draftsmith with some of these scenarios in mind. It has a feature for making editing for English language fluency easier. It has other features for sparking ideas on sentences that need paraphrasing. It can’t do an editor’s job. But it may be able to help you with specific tasks.

Change is coming

It’s clear that generative AI is not a passing fad. Ignoring it is not an option for editors.

Change won’t be immediate. The author’s voice remains crucial. And AI is bad at preserving it! Lots of people don’t want to write with AI and prefer drafting their content to retain their thought processes. I’m one of these. The more I experiment with AI, the more I conclude that I get better results if I write a first draft myself because I think through my ideas as I write. So there will still be plenty of human writing. And even more AI-generated text just means more text that needs to be edited by people.

But change is coming. If you haven’t been experimenting with AI, it’s probably a good idea to start, even if it’s unproductive at first. Your skill with prompts will quickly improve. And as it does, you’ll see both the advantages and flaws of generated text more clearly. This will make you a better editor, and prepare you for a future where AI-assisted writing is commonplace. As Erin Servais emphasizes in her thorough analysis, AI Editing: Separating Facts from Fiction, AI tools are just that—tools to aid the editor, not replace them.

As a society, I’m not sure we’re ready for all of AI’s wider implications. But as a community of editors, I’m sure we are.