By Jessica Ho
This article first appeared in Volume 32, Issue 2 of The Teaching Librarian. CSL Journal thanks OSLA and Jessica Ho for agreeing to republish her article with us.
Author’s Note: All opinions are my own. Examples of AI-generated picture books were found by searching Amazon Canada with the query “Self-published kid’s books.”
It would be remiss to say that generative artificial intelligence (AI) remains a mystery amongst librarians. As the profession turns its investigative eye towards AI as a pedagogical tool, or as an opportunity for digital literacy education… mysterious imposters may have already infiltrated your library collection.
The clues are there if one looks carefully: a peculiar sounding title, differing cover art styles between titles in a series or cover art that just doesn’t look quite right. These (often) self-published books are comprised of images and text created either wholly or with the aid of generative AI tools. Sold amongst their non-AI counterparts, AI-generated picture books are already finding their way into library collections through purchases and donations. Now is the time to begin investigating, and discussing, the implications of having AI-generated works in our libraries.
The Case of the AI Picture Book
In early 2023, the picture book Alice and Sparkle went viral online. Its author, @ammaar, tweeted: “I spent the weekend playing with ChatGPT, MidJourney, and other AI tools… and by combining all of them, published a children’s book co-written and illustrated by AI!”
The backlash was immediate. Some people lambasted the illustrations for their flaws and lack of consistency. Others lamented the death of the writer and writing for pleasure. Artists rightfully expressed concern about the trend of using AI tools to illustrate books, a cost-cutting alternative to commissioning that threatens artist livelihoods. Further discussions were had about the ethical implications of profiting from images generated by AI tools that utilize artist’s intellectual property in training datasets without giving proper credit. I deemed the book an anomaly; a one-off experiment that only highlighted the limitations of AI as a creative tool and the fraught debate over AI copyright.
Then I encountered an AI-generated picture book while cataloguing in May 2023. The book had no pre-existing records within large cataloguing organizations, but this is common with new or independently published books. A quick Google search of the book’s ISBN returned results from Amazon and Indigo – again, nothing to arouse suspicion. However, when looking at the warped front and back cover art of the book on Amazon, it became clear that the images were AI-generated. I then noticed the book’s odd, redundant title and robotic book description. Unlike Alice and Sparkle, there was no written indication that any portion of this book was AI-generated.
Further research revealed that that book’s author (AI-generated profile image) has 194 titles listed on Amazon. All the listings are for picture books featuring odd titles, wildly different subject matter and varying illustration styles. The author’s website disclaims:
“As an experiment, some of the blog posts on this site have been generated or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. While these posts aim to provide high-quality and informative content about children’s literature, please be aware that the AI-generated content may not be as unique or nuanced as human-written material. We are transparently exploring the use of AI to streamline content creation, but human expertise and editing remain essential parts of the process. Please let us know if you have any feedback or questions about our use of AI.”
Despite avowing transparency, the website also advertises the author receiving a writing accolade that does not really exist. The publisher’s website is a two-page blog with a picture of a building that, upon reverse image searching, returns results from an office building in the Middle East. What about this author is real? What has been fabricated to resemble legitimacy and trustworthiness? And it was not just this one author – further searching led me to find many “authors” on Amazon using AI-generated text and images in their books, listings and profiles without disclaimers about AI use.
Though it was just one AI-generated picture book, and though I have not encountered another AI-generated picture book while cataloguing since, this experience left a lasting impression on me.
Investigating the AI-Generated Picture Book
Beyond issues of information ethics and the trustworthiness of AI “authors,” AI-generated picture books have accelerated the trend of producing children’s books for profit. Books are published quickly, in bulk and of varying quality, capitalizing upon popular topics in the curriculum and/or social milieu. When searching for “self-published kid’s books” on Amazon, one does not have to scroll far before finding AI-generated books about timely concepts like financial investment, environmental stewardship and social-emotional learning. Generative AI tools have allowed for such books to be produced in greater number and with greater ease.
Examples of AI-Generated Book Covers of books sold on Amazon.
Like all self-published books, AI-generated books are published without any rigorous editing or vetting process, so there is no guarantee about quality. The ease of book production enabled by AI can further shift the focus from book quality to quantity. Looking at AI-generated picture books, I found that inaccurate AI images are not edited, illustrations from page-to-page are not cohesive and sometimes the book’s only illustration is the cover image. If the author did not bother to illustrate every page well, one begins to question the quality of the text, too. Why bother taking time and care to research and write about a topic if AI can do it for you?
Furthermore, AI text generators cannot “tell” a unique story. A user can give an AI model a prompt and the model then predicts the best response based on the data it has been trained on. This response can often lack human nuance and personality. The capabilities of AI image generation are similarly limited. This is not about the accuracy of AI images; as the AI image models are further refined, there may come a time where AI-generated images become nearly impossible to distinguish from the real. Rather, this is about the programmed biases present in generative AI models. Without hyper-specific prompts, AI models make assumptions based on their training data about what the “most likely” protagonist and characters will look like, which can severely limit the representation that is now expected from picture books. Images of generic characters and settings are at best boring; at worst they interfere with the relationship between words and images from which readers of picture books derive meaning. As long as low-effort books are created mainly for profit, there is no guarantee that AI creators will take the time to craft prompts that meaningfully engage readers or reflect a diversity of human experiences.
Towards the Future
Children’s books and publishing will always be entwined with current technologies. This was the case with books with accompanying cassette tapes and continues with books with QR codes linking to online resources. The future of picture books could be one of further innovation, such as using 4D and virtual reality technology to create immersive book experiences for readers.
In the present, one where AI-generated picture books are being generated in bulk and are readily available for purchase through established vendors, comes the need to investigate the potential benefits and challenges of including AI-generated picture books in the library. Perhaps these books are suitable for leisure reading or can serve as valuable tools in teaching digital and information literacy. Or perhaps the liabilities arising from limited and opaque generative AI tools and how they are used outweigh the potential benefits. To frame AI-generated picture books as “culprits” is fun, but the books themselves are not active agents; the responsibility still rests on librarians and library professionals to make informed decisions and advocate for intellectual property rights, valuable stories and diverse representation.
Jessica Ho is a Library Systems Technician with the Toronto District School Board.