2025-2026
Task Force Roster
Barbara Kline Pope, Johns Hopkins (jkp AT jhu DOT edu)
Amy Brand, MIT
Hilary Claggett, Georgetown
Laraine Coates, British Columbia
Alan Harvey, Stanford
Katie Hope, Princeton
Alphonse MacDonald, NAP
Sarah Weicksel, AHA
JD Wilson, Alabama
Board Liaison
Catherine Cocks, Syracuse
Central Office Liaison
Brenna McLaughlin
Charge
General Objective:
To guide the Association of University Presses in better understanding the practical, ethical, legal, environmental, and strategic implications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within university press publishing. The task force will recommend programming, policies, and resources to support member presses in navigating the generative AI environment responsibly and effectively.
- Benchmark AI Use in University Press Publishing
- Monitor and report on how members are leveraging generative AI across operations and intellectual property arenas. Launch another survey or conduct in-depth interviews, if necessary.
- Identify successful case studies and cautionary examples to inform member press strategies.
- Clarify generative AI terminology, concepts, and technologies where confusion or inconsistency exists within the community—as ascertained through a new survey or in-depth interviews.
- Evaluate Ethical, Cultural, Legal, Environmental, and Values-Based Considerations
- Provide a forum for examining the many and varied implications of AI adoption on intellectual property, workflows, labor, data privacy, environmental impacts, and scholarly integrity.
- Document areas of shared understanding or divergence across member presses.
- Provide a range of guiding principles for responsible AI use in publishing contexts.
- Recommend practices that ensure smaller presses, under-resourced members, and presses representing marginalized communities are not left behind in the AI transition.
- Recommend Supportive Programming
- Propose educational programs, training sessions, or toolkits to help member presses integrate AI tools into their workflows.
- Identify specific areas where members most often seek advice assistance (e.g., content generation, metadata, peer review, marketing, licensing).
- Develop possible collective activities related to generative AI for member participation, taking into consideration antitrust laws.
- Advise on Association Structure and Strategy
- Advise the AUPress’s board on whether there is a need for policies for the association around the use of generative AI on content created by the staff, consultants, and volunteers.
- At the conclusion of your work, assess the need for a standing AI Committee.
- Promote Inclusive and Context-Aware Recommendations
- Ensure that all recommendations reflect the diversity of the Association’s membership, including institutional missions, technological capacity, regulatory environments, geographic representation, and cultural perspectives.
- Emphasize flexibility and adaptability in any proposed approaches.
- Align work and recommendations with the Association’s core values, strategic goals, guiding principles, and commitments to anti-racism and equity.
Deliverables:
Recommendations will be submitted to the Board of Directors and the Central Office, as part of interim reports, due on 10 October 2025 and 27 February 2026, along with a summary of findings and rationale. Final outputs, due 22 May 2026, or earlier as the case may be, will be used for future strategic planning, resource development, community education, and external engagement.