Recently, I’ve received several unsolicited emails sharing details to “take advantage of special offers” using AI (artificial intelligence) to create picture storybooks. All you do, states the advertisement, is write out what you would like your story to be about, suggest pictures you would like to have in the story–and boom–you have a picture storybook, authored and illustrated by you.
Although this is not plagiarism, where someone steals another’s idea, this concept is a form of claiming ownership of writings and illustrations that do not originally belong to you. Which means, your book is a false representation of the truth.
Is AI the truth or is it false and made of lies? This phenomenon is a part of every aspect of our lives, for example: Reading labels on food items, investing, relationships, historical facts, planning travel, agreements, animal breeds, rare artifacts, famous paintings or artworks, drug information, research, and caring for plants. It seems that everything one reads needs to have a disclaimer attached.
So, how does a parent teach their child to know what is real and what is not real? One way is by simply stating the facts when the child or family is exposed to something false. Another way is to help the child understand that when they do their best they are being true to themselves and can feel a sense of true accomplishment. Showing care about how others are treated is a genuine feeling and should be encouraged with children. Encouraging a child to talk about incidents in school or exposure to questionable behaviors, contributes to parents aiding their child in better understanding what is true or false.
The picture storybook, A Very Strange Day For Farmer Gray, is a light-hearted story about Farmer Gray awakening one day and finding his farm in a false sense of reality. He has spaghetti for breakfast and biscuits and honey for supper. The pigs are taking a bath and the sheep are sitting at school desks doing math problems. Then there are two pages, at the end of the story, which show what happened in the story and then asks what the real action is from the tale. Or said another way, what is false and what is the truth of what should have occurred. Parents can then also ask children: Why is it not true or why is it correct?
Recognizing true and false is an important part of interpreting social language. Children need to acknowledge and know as much as possible regarding what to believe as truth, what is false and also why something is not true.
Hello Voice Publications books support learning tactics that increase language skills. Our picture storybooks are an excellent resource for parents and teachers.
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