Learning Project Update 8: Down the Rabbit Hole of AI Powered Content Creation & Publishing
Whew, what a whirlwind week! My brain has been all over the place and back again. To focus myself (for a second), my first goal was to complete my manuscript with feedback from my in-person and online community. Done! Second goal: Research Canadian publishers that fit my story. Also done quickly, giving me too much time to fall down a digital rabbit hole (but we’ll get to that).
Searching for A “Just Right” Publisher
Much to my surprise, the University of Saskatchewan has a fairly extensive list of potential Canadian publishers, creating an easy starting point for this week’s progress. I didn’t linger overlong on the list before zeroing in on two: Kids Can Press and Tundra Books (Penguin Random House Canada). Both accept submissions without an agent (alleluia), prefer manuscripts without illustrations, allow submissions to multiple publishers, and focus on child growth and creativity. Just right fits!
Kids Can Press Submission Guidelines. Snapshot: Kidscanpress.com
A Lightbulb Moment Leading to My Tumble Down, Down, Down
Well, that was too easy, or so said my restless brain. How can I showcase my learning without revealing my entire book on this blog? To be clear, I’ve shown pieces of my book – the introduction and reviewed snippets using ProWritingAid – but I’m still struggling to show my writing progress without revealing everything.
Hmmmm, what if I transform the submission guidelines into a short story, somewhat mirroring the themes of David’s Imperfectly Perfect Creations? My brain concurred this was a fun way to engage with the process while maintaining some creative privacy.
Here we go again! GIF credit: Tenor.com
Quickly enough, I constructed a short and sweet draft of submission guidelines and my learning process (Ai-voiceover reading in the videos below).
And then…
Down
Down
Down
BAM! The AI rabbit hole…
AI Tools: Blessing or Curse?
I started thinking about how I could visually present my “submission quest” using an online platform. In the past, I’ve used bookcreator.com for my ECI833 final project. Still, my hungry brain cried for something new!
That’s when I discovered text-to-video AI generators, and maybe I’m out of the loop, but this was very new to me.
Invideo.io and Questionable Stockpile Photos
When a simple prompt can write any story and make any video, is anything really yours? Snapshot: Invideo.io
This AI tumble will forever be known by my family as the “Sudden Three-Legged Giraffe Endeavour” (you’ll see in a minute). The first platform I tested was invideo.io (free to use without upgrade). Call me AI-naive, I was stunned how quickly it paired my text with stock videos. But oh wow, the AI choices! I am sharing the unedited AI-generated video for the sheer comedy of a poorly animated, suddenly three-legged giraffe (see the 1:16 mark). Of course, if you pay, the platform can generate a fully original (or so they say) AI-animated video.
Even more shocking? You can provide a prompt, and this site will write the script, generate the visuals, and help you publish online. I’ll discuss the ethical implications of this in a bit. My own kids were drawn to the voiceover containing my name and story. Not long after, they were beside me on the family laptop, inputting their stories. My son loves to write, but the ease of having the platform write for him was a siren’s call he couldn’t resist. Cue a discussion about ethical AI use. Invideo.ai will write everything for you if you let it. Is it really your story if AI creates it, start to finish? Absolutely not. A worthwhile conversation I recommend having with students, too.
Pictory.ai: Costly But Slightly More Sensible
Pictory’s left-hand toolbar is reminiscent of Canva’s, making it easy to use. Snapshot: Pictory.ai
Next, I wanted to see what money – or at least a premium free trial – could get me. Enter Pictory.ai with its 14-day free trial! The interface is similar to Canva’s easy to use toolbar. In comparison to Invideo.ai, it has more control over photo/video selection, AI voiceover choices…and, less chaos than the three-legged giraffe debacle. Is it perfect? Certainly not, but it has potential for teaching students how to use symbolism in connection to their written words. Something to think about (along with the paramount ethics convo).
Crash-Landing: AI-Generated Book Bottom
Tumbling down this digital rabbit hole, it was inevitable I hit bottom eventually. Let me say, the crash-landing was eye-opening. While searching for text-to-video tools, I stumbled across a plethora of AI platforms that will LEGALLY write your entire book, design your cover, ensure copyright, and publish directly to Amazon. Hello, massive red flags for the future of writing and publishing!
Rambling Questions…(as I sit down here, scratching my head)
- Function Over Form: What does originality even mean when AI can generate a book in minutes? What happens to the creative process when writing places algorithms above storytelling?
- Market Oversaturation: I’ve heard complaints on TikTok and Insta about AI-generated content oversaturation, but admittedly, I brushed this off as tech-doomsaying. Now? What if the market becomes so oversaturated with AI-generated content, it leaves human authors – especially new and emerging – in the bygone dust?
- Ethical Dilemma: If AI tools are trained on vast databases that pull from human-created content, how are those remixes given proper attribution? We’ve all agreed nothing is original if everything is a remix, but this descends to a much darker level of copying than we’ve ever seen.
As AI publishing evolves, the writing industry – like the art and film communities – will need to address these growing concerns. Publishers may have to differentiate between AI-assisted and human created work; already happening with new social media content labels. Readers will need to decide what they truly value in storytelling. In the meantime, I’ll be sticking to the chaotic stories in my own mind. Still, the implications of this shift are impossible to ignore.
Out of the Rabbit Hole, Searching for the Next Quest
To wrap it up, this week was a chaotic but eye-opening tumble. My manuscript is ready (huzzah!), but I’m continuing to explore how I can showcase my learning in creative ways.
Next week, I’ll (hopefully) return to more structure as I draft and share with you (gulp!) my query letters to Kids Can Press and Tundra… before that fateful click of the submission button.
Some questions for you, or please respond in your own way. Thanks for reading!
- Would you read a book written entirely by AI? Why or why not?
- Do you think AI-generated content has a place in publishing, or is it a threat to human creativity?
- How should educators and parents approach these tools with children who want to experiment with new ways of storytelling?
I really enjoyed reading your post — it sounds like you’ve had quite the whirlwind of a week! Congratulations on finishing your manuscript and diving into the submission process — that’s such a huge accomplishment. Your thoughts on AI in publishing really resonated with me. While AI tools can be fascinating (and sometimes helpful), I share your concern about what this means for authentic storytelling. There’s something powerful about human creativity — the messy process, the emotions, the personal experiences — that I can’t imagine an algorithm truly capturing. I’m curious to see how publishers will navigate this moving forward. Best of luck with your submissions — I can’t wait to hear how it all turns out!
Karissa
Thanks, Karissa. Yes, I think that – just like artists currently dealing with AI-generated art – the literary world has an interesting war ahead. The more I have researched online writing tools for this class, the more unethical AI book-writing sites have crossed my path. It is scary, to say the least! Best of luck to you, too!
What a great post! I really felt your sense of tumbling 🙂 I enjoyed your thoughts on AI in storytelling, and I agree the implications are impossible to ignore. I think AI will have a place helping authors in their creative process. Perhaps with research, drafting, even creating suggestions for storyline changes, etc. However it is the author behind the keyboard that makes the final choices about the who, where, what and when. Not only that, AI cannot infuse the human experience into the story. The emotion, the nuanced dialogue, the depth of character development. You know how you can read a book that may have a good premise and plot, but it’s not great writing and turns out to be disappointing? On the other hand you know when a book is well written and its such a pleasure to read. Like poetry. I agree with you 100% that it will be up to the readers to determine what they value and what they will accept.
Congratulations on completing your manuscript. I am excited for you and this amazing opportunity you have created for yourself! I look forward to hearing about the next steps.
Thanks, Crystal. I am excited and scared, too. Regardless of the outcome, it’s been great to make it the furthest I ever have in this endeavour. It will be interesting to see what readers decide constitutes “value” in the literary world over the next decade. More and more, I find myself closing unfinished books that were recommended by Booktok. I try to read what my students are reading or “hot ticket” books recommended to get them excited to read, but honestly (to me), so much of it is poorly written. Time will tell. Good luck finishing up your project!