The opening press conference of the Frankfurt Book Fair aimed to set the tone for this year's event, which runs from October 16 through 20. Karin Schmidt-Fredericks, chairwoman of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, remarked that fairs like the one in Frankfurt were an antidote to fake news. "There are no bots at the book fair," she said. "Books captivate people – and increasingly so once again. Many young readers are currently in a reading frenzy. Whether it's because they want to immerse themselves in stories, discover new things, open up new worlds of knowledge, or to form or verify their own opinions based on carefully researched and clearly articulated background information." She said the vision for the fair is as a forum for democracy, diversity, and dialogue, one suited to exploring the pressing socio-political issues of our time, including AI.
"AI can support and assist; can simplify processes and provide creative impetus," she said. "What it can't do – at least not yet –, is to write unpredictable, provocative, touching, inspiring content. And what is most often forgotten: The capabilities of these systems are based on the biggest data theft in history. Copyright-protected texts and images have been and continue to be used millions of times as training material for AI without the consent of the authors and without paying royalties. This is simply not acceptable! We need clear rules. The European AI law, the AI Act, is a first step in the right direction, but many points are still unresolved.”
Book fair director Juergen Boos doubled down on the message that the book fair was a place where one could hold diverse opinions and engage with people who are different from you in meaningful dialogue. The fair's program "Frankfurt Calling"—a name that deliberately evokes The Clash's album London Calling—will offer presentations and conversations giving a variety of perspectives on culture and politics.
Boos touted a number of new initiatives at the fair, from a collaboration with the Bologna Children's Book Fair on a track of programming about gaming to a matchmaking event for 50 rights professionals focused on book-to-film adaptations. Addressing younger readers is a high priority for the fair, with Boos noting that TikTok and social media fandom have an undeniable impact on book sales. "It's no longer a phenomenon, but a part of the business," Boos said.
British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak gave a moving keynote in which she acknowledged the tribalism that was dividing the world, "from Ukraine, to Gaza, to Sudan." She went on to describe how a decade ago, "the biggest optimists were the tech optimists" who promised that "information would be free." But now we are drowning in information, "and there is no time to process, absorb or feel."
Shafak proffered literature as an antidote to the mania and divisiveness of the digital age. "The literary mind cannot be isolationist," she said, adding, "Literature brings the periphery to the center."
