75% of Spanish publishing pros see AI adoption as inevitable, creatives more concerned than biz veterans

Spanish publishing industry professionals overwhelmingly recognize that artificial intelligence adoption is inevitable, with many seeing it as a positive force for innovation and efficiency. A new study from Proyecto451 reveals a nuanced landscape where industry veterans largely welcome AI tools for their cost-saving potential, while freelancers and creative professionals express concern about job displacement and quality degradation. This tension reflects the broader global conversation about balancing AI’s productivity benefits against potential creative and economic disruptions.

The big picture: More than 75% of publishing professionals in Spanish-speaking markets believe AI adoption in publishing is unavoidable, while only 16.9% expect it won’t bring significant changes, according to a comprehensive survey from Buenos Aires-based research firm Proyecto451.

• The study “Uses and Perceptions of AI among Professionals in the Book Industry” surveyed 735 book industry professionals across 20 countries, primarily from Argentina, Spain, and Mexico.
• Publishers comprised nearly half of respondents (46.7%), with the remainder including translators, editors, graphic designers, booksellers, and literary agents.

Industry sentiment: Industry veterans with over 10 years of experience demonstrate significantly more optimism about AI’s potential than newer professionals and freelancers.

• The study found 53.7% of professionals with more than a decade in publishing view AI as a positive or very positive resource.
• Only 20% of all participants believe AI could negatively impact the industry, suggesting broad acceptance of the technology.

What they’re saying: Many industry professionals dismiss apocalyptic fears about AI’s impact on publishing.

• “Humans enjoy being apocalyptic and dramatic; they invent new bogeymen all the time. AI doesn’t represent the end of humanity or the book industry. Calm down. Breathe,” said one participant.
• Another noted the dual nature of AI: “As an editor, it’s beneficial because it helps me save costs. As a writer, designer, translator, and proofreader, it’s a calamity that eliminates jobs and lowers the quality/originality of works.”

Key divide: Self-employed professionals, particularly illustrators and translators, express more negative attitudes toward AI than those working within publishing houses.

• These freelancers see AI as potentially automating their specialized tasks and threatening their livelihoods.
• One independent publisher worried: “Although it may facilitate our work as a tool, there is also the other side: the automation that could lead independent authors to no longer seek us out, rendering us obsolete in the face of the ‘ease’ of automatic editing by AI.”

Current applications: Cost optimization and task automation emerged as the most valuable advantages of AI for publishing professionals.

• Respondents report currently using AI for style correction, translation, brainstorming, information analysis, and marketing campaign management.
• Only a small group believes AI will create new reading experiences or significantly improve literary quality.

Regulatory landscape: Most respondents reported no legal or contractual barriers limiting their daily AI use, with many organizations lacking specific policies.

• This regulatory gap exists despite concerns about biased or false information, quality degradation, and potential job losses.
• There’s broad agreement that AI cannot yet produce genuinely novel content or match human translation quality, with one professional stating: “From what I’ve seen, the texts generated by AI tend to be of rather poor quality. It’s not intelligence; it’s pure algorithmic prediction.”