What does the future of textbook and academic publishing look like in the age of artificial intelligence? According to Bryan Alexander, award-winning futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and educator recognized internationally, the answer is already beginning to take shape. Ahead of his session at TAA’s 2026 Virtual Textbook & Academic Authoring Institute, Alexander joined mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan—the Institute’s keynote namesake—for a wide-ranging discussion on AI, authorship, and the opportunities and challenges facing academic authors. He will explore these issues further during his presentation, “How the AI Revolution is Impacting the Future of Textbook & Academic Publishing,” on Friday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET.

Sullivan: You call yourself a higher education “futurist”. What does that mean to you?

Alexander: “This means I help clients think more creatively and strategically about the future.  To do this I conduct continuous research into a wide range of topics, from technology to demographics, macroeconomics to university finances. I use that work to create scenarios and analyses, which I then share through scholarly books, videos, newsletters, podcasts, social media, virtual and in-person presentations, and consulting, plus by teaching seminars at Georgetown University.”

Sullivan: What are two emerging or potential AI uses in the textbook world?

Alexander: “One attaches AI to a text or corpus, allowing the user to interact with it via chat conversation, creating concept maps, generating podcast conversations, and so on. Another is on the production side, where authors use AI to develop their work through AI-enabled research, brainstorming, review, data crunching, and more.”

Sullivan: How are you using AI in your authoring?

Alexander: “In several ways. I ask AI to generate an ‘official narrative’ of a given topic, which is very useful. I run drafts by NotebookLM to see what it makes of my writing, which is like having a bright and eccentric colleague on tap.  Additionally, I load up a NotebookLM instance with documents I’m producing and reading, to see what connections it makes. I also use image generators for slideshow visuals.”

Sullivan: Share an example of opposition you have heard around academic author use of AI, and how you have responded to it.

Alexander: “One argument is that AI writing is very bland or uninspired.  My reaction is twofold. First, don’t rely on the bot to make your writing; use conversations to advance your own thought. Second, this is where human creativity comes in!

A second is the fear of a tidal wave of low-quality AI-generated stuff.  I don’t have a full answer to this, but do urge people to criticize such material.”

Sullivan: You plan to share several scenarios for possible textbook futures. Could you share an overview of one of those possible textbook futures?

Alexander: “AI-generated official textbooks. Governments, companies, and nonprofits use AI to create training materials for their strategic purposes. Over time new administrations set aside the old textbooks and build new ones as their interests and ideas shift.”

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You can learn more about the possibilities of AI at Alexander’s keynote presentation “How the AI Revolution is Impacting the Future of Textbook & Academic Publishing”, at the 2026 TAA Virtual Institute on Textbook and Academic Authoring, which will take place June 12-13. Register here. Get $50 off registration with code MAW26.