The IPEd conference held online in May 2023 had the theme of futureproofing the profession of editing – very topical for editors and their clients in the age of AI and ChatGPT. Are editors redundant? No. Reassuringly, keynote speaker Martin Delahunty explained that ChatGPT still requires human curation and checking answers. It requires human intervention behind the scenes, and in use. We still need critical thinking, and editors are excellent at critical thinking, checking, and exercising judgement. For instance, AI can make up convincing references that do not in fact exist.

Clearly AI is very useful. It is already being used and will continue to bring changes. The landscape is changing very quickly and policies are being developed in different fields. In education, schools and universities are developing policies on student use. In academic publishing, some journals have developed policies that AI cannot be a paper author, but authors need to acknowledge and cite AI if it is used.

The Plain English Foundation has produced a report on editors and ChatGPT. Get the report here.

The conference also provided an update on IPEd activities, including the work of the Pay and Conditions Standing Committee of which I am a member.

This is the fourth IPEd conference I have attended. See my blogs on previous conferences here:

Brisbane 2017: “An excellence of editors” – advancing the profession conference

Melbourne 2019: Beyond the page – words from the IPEd national conference May 2019

Hobart 2021: Editing on the edges: the IPEd editors conference, June 2021

As part of my own futureproofing, I look forward to viewing sessions I couldn’t attend in real time.

To work with an accredited editor who strives for clear communication, please contact me at rhdaniels@bigpond.com