Why We Do Not Publish AI-Generated Books
AI is becoming increasingly popular and many authors are now choosing to generate complete stories or illustrations using AI. As a publishing company, we do not accept or produce books written or illustrated using artificial intelligence. Our reasons for this policy are outlined below.
Image Quality and Professional Art Standards
While AI continues to improve over time, it currently does not meet our professional publishing standards for either written stories or illustrations. AI generated artwork almost always contains visual inconsistencies between pages or scenes, anatomical errors such as extra limbs, distorted features or strange objects and inaccurate details.
Aside from visual errors, AI art cannot be properly edited as it is an unaltered, flattened file, often of low resolution and unfit for printing. It cannot be adjusted and has limited flexibility for formatting.
A professional illustrator does more than just generate a picture based on a description. A good artist will:
We have a responsibility to support illustrators, designers and humans in creative roles. Without those people, AI would not be able to generate anything at all. We believe that it is us, the humans who should be doing the creating, painting, drawing, singing and art - and computers, AI and robots - should be doing the hard labour and menial jobs that humans don’t want to do.
Story and Written Word
AI generated stories lack emotional depth, contain inconsistencies in plots and character development, include factually incorrect information or sometimes even harmful, racist or hateful messages and have poorly developed sense of morals.
Generating stories with AI lowers the industry standards. Some bookshops, distributors, and marketplaces are beginning to restrict or scrutinise AI-generated titles due to copyright concerns and quality control standards. This can create barriers to stocking, promotion, and long-term distribution.
AI might seem cheaper at first, but in the long run, AI books cost you as an author through restricted sales and negative reviews and reputation.
Our Responsibility to Children
This is not simply about production efficiency or cost. It is about responsibility. Children deserve thoughtful, carefully crafted books. They deserve stories that encourage their imagination, promote their creativity, support learning and development and present clear and meaningful values.
We have to consider what we are feeding children’s minds. Books shape thinking, curiosity, and creativity. We believe children should be inspired to draw, build, imagine, and create, not mindlessly consume machine-generated content.
Copyright and Legal Issues
AI generated artwork presents a grey area in copyright ownership. We cannot publish material where ownership or originality cannot be verified. Many AI image generators are trained on vast datasets of existing artwork and written material. The ownership and originality of the output is not always clear. Copyright law in relation to AI-generated work is still developing, and in some jurisdictions AI-generated material may not qualify for full copyright protection.
Acceptable use of AI
While we do not accept AI-generated stories or illustrations for publication, we recognise that AI can be a useful support tool when used responsibly. There are some areas that we accept the use of AI can be helpful for:
- Basic proofreading or test reading before submission to an editor
- Generating sample images to send to an illustrator as a reference
- Generating character or place names
- Generating prompts to improve writing skills
- Organising notes or structuring outlines
Used in this way, AI can support the creative process without replacing it. Our position is not anti-technology. It is pro-creativity, pro-quality, and pro-children. Thankyou for reading.