With the rise of text-based artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT, the challenges of writing, reviewing and publishing scientific papers have also increased. At the IUPAC | CHAINS 2023 World Congress on Chemistry in The Hague, a number of experts in the field of publishing came together to provide insight into these issues.

What should artificial intelligence technologies bring to the (publishing) table? This question, posed by ChemistryWorld publisher and chairman Adam Brownsell, kicked off the panel discussion on the future of scientific publishing and AI. Joris van Rossum, publishing professional at STM, a global association of scientific, technical and medical publishers, says a major challenge is the misuse of AI. AI can be good, but the problem is that it can’t create text out of thin air. It relies on manipulating or copying existing text to create something ‘new’.