MOSCOW, 3rd September, 2026 (WAM) -- TRENDS Research & Advisory, part of TRENDS Group, held a symposium titled “The Future of Publishing in the AI Era: Protecting Language, Culture and Creative Identity” as part of its first participation in the Moscow International Book Fair 2026, where it is serving as Knowledge Partner for the 39th edition.
At its dedicated pavilion, TRENDS is showcasing more than 500 original and translated books, research papers and studies that contribute to strategy formulation and the analysis of global affairs, regional transformations, security, economics and technology.
Translated into more than 16 languages, the publications cover human and international security, political Islam, artificial intelligence and technology, international relations, health, climate and the environment, among other fields.
Opening the symposium discussions, which were moderated by Dr. Aurika Shavtikova, Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications at RT Arabic, Ali Abdullah Al Ali, Researcher and Director of TRENDS Dubai, said the transformations affecting publishing in the age of AI extend beyond technology to issues of knowledge, culture, identity and influence.
He said AI is changing the way information is produced and shared and can make knowledge more accessible, but raised the question of who will shape the knowledge people read in the future, noting that the discussion therefore extends far beyond technological advancement.
Al Ali added that publishing has long played an important role in protecting history, culture and national identity. Books have helped societies tell their stories and languages survive, while AI has now become part of this process.
He stressed the need to ensure that AI does not lead to a world in which everyone reads the same stories, uses the same language and views the world from the same perspective, emphasising that cultural diversity must remain at the heart of the digital future.
Elena Grebeneva, CEO of the Moscow International Book Fair, said the fair attaches significant importance to the future of publishing in the AI era by developing international cooperation and effective partnerships in books and publishing and protecting the creative identity of societies, including language and culture, amid growing reliance on generative AI tools in writing and publishing.
She said AI cannot replace writers because machines remain limited in their ability to imitate human emotions and storytelling, calling for stronger legal frameworks governing content ownership and the publishing industry and greater protection for authors and publishers against potential digital infringements involving AI algorithms.
Tatiana Rodionova, Executive Director of Lira Publishing House, said the role of the traditional publisher is no longer limited to printing and distribution but has evolved into that of a guardian of quality and credibility amid the digital flood.
She described AI as a powerful supporting tool for translation and editing and an essential part of the future of publishing, noting that it has become a tool that cannot be ignored.
Rodionova added that publishing houses have a responsibility to strike a balance by using technology to accelerate work while preserving authors’ creative identity and protecting books from AI-generated content lacking cultural value.
She noted that cooperation and interaction with research institutions and think tanks such as TRENDS opens the way for disseminating reliable knowledge that respects linguistic and cultural diversity.
Denis Filippov, General Director of the MTS Center for Artificial Intelligence, said the real challenge lies not in AI’s capabilities but in the data from which it learns, explaining that generative models are only as good as the content on which they are trained.
He said that if languages such as Arabic and Russian are not adequately represented by high-quality digital content, these models will reproduce linguistic and cultural biases.
Filippov said the solution lies in digitising knowledge heritage, building reliable Arabic and Russian databases and developing AI tools that respect cultural particularities.
He added that the MTS Center for Artificial Intelligence is developing solutions that ensure transparency of sources and protect intellectual property rights and human creativity through technologies that trace the provenance of content.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of its participation in the Moscow International Book Fair as Knowledge Partner of its 39th edition, the TRENDS Research & Advisory team and the TRENDS Moscow office learned about the objectives and activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross Regional Delegation for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus during a meeting at the delegation’s headquarters in Moscow.
The meeting was attended by Assem Elessawy, Deputy Head of the ICRC Regional Delegation for Operations in Russia.
Al Ali said the meeting comes at a time when the global humanitarian sector is undergoing rapid and profound transformations, highlighting the growing need for innovative tools to analyse and predict crises and conflicts, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
He noted that research institutions and think tanks have become a fundamental pillar in guiding humanitarian and charitable efforts.