Start of Frankfurter Buchmesse: “Two-fold theft by AI: first our books, then our thoughts”

In increasingly polarized times, books provide an important space for different perspectives and new ideas. However, declining reading literacy and insufficiently regulated AI that exploits this very gap, are causing concern in the book industry at the start of Frankfurter Buchmesse, according to Sebastian Guggolz, Chairman of Börsenverein (The German Publishers and Booksellers Association): “If policymakers fail to act now, AI will not only continue to rob millions of copyright-protected works from us, but will also, in the long term, rob us of our ability to think."

According to the latest PISA study, one-third of 15-year-olds lack adequate reading skills. Furthermore, in 2025, the number of young people aged 10 to 15 who bought books dropped by 30.6 percent compared to the previous year. “We cannot simply shrug our shoulders at this development. Declining reading literacy cannot be compensated for by the triumph of AI, which provides us with answers on demand. On the contrary: those who can no longer read for comprehension are not able to verify an AI response at all. They are left with no choice but to blindly believe the prefabricated answer”, said Sebastian Guggolz.

Measures to Combat the Education Crisis

According to Guggolz, the promotion of reading and media literacy must be established as a priority in education policy. Beyond education policy – for instance in business, research and society – it must be recognised that reading is an indispensable prerequisite for life as a whole and for participation in a thriving society. He advocates for fixed daily reading sessions in schools, as proposed by the ‘Leseband’ initiative. In addition, media literacy must become a compulsory subject. Children and young people should, for example, learn to distinguish between researched information and opinion pieces, and how to deal with fake news as well as artificially generated texts and images.

Clear Rules for AI – “The Frankfurter Appeal”

At the same time, Guggolz criticised the fact that, when it comes to the use and development of AI, non-European corporations are dictating the terms, thereby throwing fair play and ethical principles overboard. “AI companies use copyright-protected works without consent or remuneration to train their systems. Since there are no clear legal obligations to disclose training data, content owners are forced to conduct time-consuming searches for evidence themselves and enforce their claims through costly legal proceedings. Here, too, swift and decisive action is needed from policymakers.”

To mark the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Börsenverein is therefore publishing the “Frankfurt Appeal” addressed to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the German Federal Government. 120 publishers have already signed the appeal. The appeal calls for transparency regarding the works used for AI training, fair licensing models and effective instruments for enforcing copyright. The text of the appeal and the list of signatories are available at: www.boersenverein.de/frankfurter-appell

Our Panels on AI and the Promotion of Reading

First the lawsuit, then the regulation? The gaps in AI regulation that need to be closed now.

Thursday, October 8th, 11.30-12.30, Dialogue Stage, Foyer Hall 4.0

Featuring: Nela Riehl (MdEP), Dr. Johannes Christian Wichard (BMJV), Rainer Dresen (Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe), Dr. Kai Welp (GEMA), Katharina Uppenbrink (Moderator, Initiative Urheberrecht)

A looming education crisis – learning to read amidst an education crisis, AI and social media

Friday, October 9th, 14:00, Dialogue Stage, Foyer Hall 4.0

Featuring: Dr. Petra Bahr (BMBFSFJ), Silke Müller (Education Expert), Prof. Dr. Samuel Greiff (Zentrum für internationale Bildungsvergleichsstudien/PISA), Erik Sczygiol (Bundesschüler*innenkonferenz), Heike Schmoll (Moderator, Education Journalist)

All Börsenvereins events can be found at: www.boersenverein.de/buchmesse