AI Survey Findings 2025
Earlier this year we conducted a survey of AI use by DAISY Members, this was a repeat of a survey conducted last year to gauge interest in and use of artificial intelligence in the creation and transformation of accessible formats.
We first conducted this survey in 2024, which highlighted lots of interest in the potential of AI technologies, some experimentation, but very little direct use among DAISY Members.
In 2025 the picture was considerably different, reflecting the rapid development and broader use of AI in society.
What AI technologies are you currently using?
DAISY Members are now actively using a wide range of AI tools, but the two most commonly used were text-to-speech and image description. The quality of voices for synthetic speech, and the accuracy of generated image descriptions have both improved considerably over the 12 months and offer significant potential in accelerating accessible format creation.
A wide range of other tools were also listed, demonstrating the broad application of AI technology and potential benefits for the sector:
- AI-driven reading assistants
- Braille production
- Complex content (e.g. STEM or graphical novels)
- Document format conversion services
- Easyread / simplified features
- Generating tactile images
- Language detection and translation
- Machine learning for personalized recommendations
- Metadata generation
- Software development
- Speech-to-text
What AI technologies are you interested in using?
When asked about further areas of interest, perhaps unsurprisingly people indicated an interest in all potential applications of AI for content generation, conversion, testing and improving user experiences, with the three most popular being:
- Content Conversion
- Creation of Complex Content
- Image Description
The simplicity of content conversion has always been heavily dependent on the source format and quality of document markup, but AI technologies are showing significant promise in facilitating conversion from problematic format, potentially saving time over more conventional methods.
The creation of complex content, for example scientific materials, also has much to gain from AI tools, with the potential to create and embed correctly formatted MathML to facilitate analysis using assistive technologies.
Finally, the image descriptions being generated by AI tools have improved in accuracy and description quality, something that can be further refined with the use of specialist prompts.
What are the biggest challenges to adopting AI?
There remain many challenges when it comes to using AI, the top three highlighted in the survey were:
- Integration with existing systems
- Lack of technical expertise
- Data privacy or ethical concerns
These are important and complex topics that we will continuing to explore as a community in an effort to find solutions and recommendations that can benefit all.
Feedback about DAISY’s work on AI
As a membership organization, the focus of our work is defined and shaped by the needs of our community, so our surveys regularly seek feedback about our work. The following comments were typical of responses to the survey about DAISY’s work with AI:
- “It is great to see DAISY facilitating these conversations and information sharing”
- “Continued support, training, and sharing best practices by DAISY members will help libraries implement AI effectively and improve accessibility for all patrons“
- “It’s great to see DAISY facilitating these conversations and information sharing”
- “In my opinion, DAISY is already doing a lot of valuable work”
AI Special Interest Group
To facilitate information sharing for DAISY Members interested in AI, the DAISY AI Special Interest Group has an active email discussion list and monthly meetings, often with invited presenters highlighting the latest developments in the sector, and discussion of wider practices that may benefit accessible publishing and reading.
Members are invited to join the DAISY AI Special Interest Group by completing a short form.