AI for Children’s Books: What Writers Need to Know

AI is not good or bad. It’s simply a tool that you can choose to use as a writer or not, so let’s talk about it. (All parts of it.)

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The conversation about AI in the children’s book industry has turned into an all-or-nothing argument that sounds like: Either you never touch AI and you’re a “real” writer, or you use it and you’re somehow cheating, stealing, or less committed to your craft.

And I don’t agree with that.

AI isn’t good or bad. It’s just a tool, like all the other tools we use when creating anything.

Whether you use AI is only the beginning of the conversation. What matters is how you use it, what you allow it to create, whether you understand the privacy and copyright implications, and whether you’re honest about the role it played in your book.

So that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about here. This way you can make an educated decision for yourself, not a decision based in fear.

Why the AI Conversation Has Become So Divided

The children’s book industry has a long history of deciding which writers count.

For years, self-published authors were treated as less legitimate than traditionally published authors. Some organizations, awards, bookstores, and industry spaces would not recognize them as “real” published authors at all.

That belief didn’t measure the quality of the book. It judged the author based on the path they chose. Now I’m watching something similar happen with AI.

Several writing and publishing organizations have adopted policies that exclude work created wholly or partly with generative AI from certain contests, awards, and programs. SCBWI also announced an updated generative AI policy in September 2026.

To be clear, organizations are allowed to set rules for their programs. A contest can require entirely human-created work, just as it can establish requirements for genre, publication history, or eligibility.

My concern is what happens when we stop discussing the work and start deciding that anyone who has used AI in any capacity is less creative, less ethical, or less worthy of participating in the industry.

That’s where I disagree.

Using AI to generate an entire book is not the same as asking it to identify 3 places where your plot loses momentum. Just like creating your illustrations with an image generator is not the same as asking an AI tool to organize your research notes. Or copying AI-written paragraphs into your manuscript is not the same as using a private AI workspace as a sounding board while you revise your own words.

When we put all of those choices into one category, we make it harder for writers to understand where the true ethical, legal, and professional lines are.

What Counts as Generative AI in a Children’s Book?

Generative AI means using an AI tool to create new material in response to instructions that you give it. That material might include:

• Story ideas
• Outlines
• Character descriptions
• Sentences or paragraphs
• Dialogue
• Rewritten passages
• Query letters
• Synopses
• Illustrations
• Cover images
• Audiobook narration

The important question is not whether an AI tool was open while you worked. The question is whether the tool generated material that you then used as part of the book or submission.

If you ask an AI tool to write a scene and copy that scene into your manuscript, you have included AI-generated writing.

If you write a paragraph, ask AI to rewrite it, and paste the rewritten paragraph back into the manuscript, you have included AI-generated writing.

If you ask an image generator to create an illustration and place that illustration inside your book, you have included AI-generated artwork.

If you ask AI to identify areas where a character’s motivation is unclear, then you consider the feedback and rewrite the story yourself, your writing is still yours.

That distinction matters, and it’s the part of the narrative most people are leaving out.

AI Assistance and AI-Generated Content Are Different

To be clear, writers have always received help during the writing process, especially successful, published ones.

We work with critique partners, beta readers, writing coaches, editors, proofreaders, agents, and other authors. We ask questions. We test ideas. We talk through a problem until we understand what the story needs.

AI can fill a similar role by giving you another place to ask questions, test ideas, or think through problems. (But you’ll still want to evaluate its feedback, because it lacks the judgment, lived experience, or accountability of a human critique partner.)

For instance, you might ask it:

• Where does this plot become confusing?
• What questions would a parent have after reading this first page?
• Does my character’s goal remain consistent?
• What themes appear in this draft?
• Which parts of my synopsis are unclear?
• What information should I research before writing about this topic?

The tool can point to a potential problem. You still decide whether you agree with the feedback and how you want to revise the book.

That’s also different from saying, “Rewrite this scene for me,” and placing the result in your manuscript.

A critique partner can tell you that your ending feels rushed. You decide how to fix it. Or an AI can tell you that your ending feels rushed and you decide how to fix it. In both cases, you remain responsible for the creative work.

When Should You Disclose Your AI Use?

However, if you choose to use AI, transparency matters. Especially when AI-generated material becomes part of the work you are submitting, publishing, or selling.

You should disclose your AI use when you have included substantive material generated by an AI tool, such as:

• AI-written sentences, paragraphs, scenes, or dialogue
• AI-rewritten material copied into the manuscript
• AI-generated illustrations or cover art
• AI-generated narration
• AI-written query or submission materials when an agent or publisher asks about their use
• Other generated content that appears in the finished book

Disclosure gives agents, publishers, organizations, booksellers, and readers the ability to make their own decisions.

Some will accept AI-generated content. Some will not.

They are allowed that choice, just as you are allowed to decide whether you want to use AI. There is no reason to hide what you used. Hiding it creates a much larger problem than making an informed decision and stating it clearly.

You also need to read the exact question being asked.

“Did you use an AI tool during your writing process?” is much broader than “Does this submission contain AI-generated or AI-edited material?”

If a form, agent, publisher, contest, or organization has a stricter policy, follow its definition. Do not assume every organization draws the line in the same place. And if the wording is unclear, ask.

AI and Copyright: The Part Writers Need to Understand

This is the part where the conversation needs more accuracy.

Under current United States Copyright Office guidance, copyright protects human authorship. Material generated entirely by AI generally doesn’t receive copyright protection.

But that doesn’t automatically mean you lose the copyright to your entire book because it contains some AI-generated material.

A book may contain both human-authored and AI-generated elements. The human-created text, original arrangement, and other qualifying human contributions may still be protected. The AI-generated portions themselves may need to be excluded from the copyright claim.

The Copyright Office looks at how the tool was used and how much creative control came from the human author. It also requires applicants to disclose more than a minimal amount of AI-generated content when applying for registration.

You can read the U.S. Copyright Office’s official guidance on works containing AI-generated material here.

But why does the copyright question matter to publishers? Because publishing is a rights business.

A publisher needs to know what rights you own and what rights you can legally grant to them. If a substantial portion of your manuscript or illustrations cannot be protected, the publisher may not be able to acquire and defend those rights in the same way it could with entirely human-authored work.

That’s not about the publisher being morally superior. It is a legal and financial concern.

This is why agents and publishers may ask whether a manuscript was written or edited using generative AI. They need a clear understanding of what you created, what a machine generated, and the rights available in the finished book.

The Publishing Industry Is Already Using AI

It’s also really important to point out that the publishing industry isn’t standing outside AI with its arms crossed.

Publishers and publishing-related companies are already exploring AI for market analysis, advertising, metadata, search, production, translation, audiobooks, business operations, and other internal uses.

And according to Publishers Weekly, nearly half of book industry professionals already use AI tools for work, even as 98% reported concerns about how AI is being implemented.

So the industry’s position is far more complicated than “AI is bad.” Instead, publishers are asking many of the same questions writers should be asking:

• Where did the training material come from?
• Who owns the output?
• Was confidential material uploaded?
• Can the resulting work be protected?
• Is the information accurate?
• Was a person responsible for the final decision?
• Does the use need to be disclosed?

Writers deserve clear answers to those questions too. That’s why this next part matters, too.

Be Careful When Uploading an Unpublished Manuscript

Before uploading your manuscript to any AI tool, read its privacy and data-use settings.

You need to know:

• Whether your content may be used to improve or train the company’s models
• How long your content is retained
• Whether you can delete it
• Whether the company offers a temporary or private mode
• Whether your conversations can be reviewed
• Whether you have permission to upload everything in the file
• Whether an agent, publisher, client, or collaborator considers the material confidential

Different platforms have different policies. And those policies can also change.

For example, ChatGPT offers data controls that allow individual users to decide whether their conversations may be used to improve its models. It also offers Temporary Chat, which does not appear in history or get used to train the models, although it may be retained for a limited period for safety purposes.

But don’t assume that every free AI tool provides the same protections. And don’t upload someone else’s unpublished story without permission. That includes manuscripts you are critiquing, editing, judging, or considering for publication.

The same rule should also apply to agents, editors, and publishing professionals. An unpublished manuscript should not be uploaded to an AI tool or detector without the writer’s knowledge and permission.

What About AI Detectors?

While this may feel like a telling source, AI detectors are not proof of authorship. They can produce false positives and false negatives.

Even companies that offer AI-detection tools warn that you should not use the results as the sole basis for taking action against a writer.

I’ve also seen writers on social media claim that once an unpublished manuscript has been uploaded to an AI detector, it may be stored or cause the story to be flagged as AI-generated later. So what actually happens when someone uploads your manuscript?

Uploading a story to an AI detector does not automatically make that story “AI-generated.” It also doesn’t mean the story has now entered a universal database that will cause every future detector to flag it.

The fear around its use is the real reason we’re having this conversation. But if you can show that you wrote the book (through previous drafts, version history, notes and notes and notes about your idea, and all the other things that we writers store on our drive), then you don’t need to worry about your story being flagged.

You wrote it, and you have a record of the work behind it. That gives you something far more reliable than an AI-detection score: evidence of your actual writing process.

If an agent, editor, organization, or publisher uses a detector and wants to discuss anything, you can have that discussion openly, with the facts. I do not support witch hunts trying to “find out” if someone used AI, or automatically rejecting a story because AI use is suspected.

A detection score should never be treated as proof. If questions arise, the writer should have an opportunity to discuss the work and provide evidence of their process.

Ethical AI Use Starts With Understanding the Tool

It’s important to state this clearly: You do not have to use AI.

You can decide that AI doesn’t belong anywhere in your creative process. You can choose to work with human critique partners, editors, and illustrators exclusively. That’s your decision.

But refusing to learn how AI works will not make it disappear.

This technology is already being built into search engines, writing software, design platforms, editing programs, email tools, analytics systems, advertising platforms, and publishing workflows. So you may be using an AI-supported feature without realizing it.

That’s why writers need enough information to recognize when a tool is generating content, protect an unpublished manuscript, read a platform’s privacy policy, understand disclosure questions, and make informed choices about their work. And writers shouldn’t make those decisions in fear.

How I Believe Writers Can Use AI Responsibly

I believe AI can serve as a research assistant, sounding board, brainstorming partner, or beta reader.

It can help you:

• Test whether an idea makes sense
• Identify questions a reader may have
• Organize information you already created
• Give you another perspective when you feel too close to a draft to see the problem

But the creative decisions should remain yours if you want to claim the work as your own.

So if you choose to use AI:

• Ask for feedback, then write the revision.
• Ask for questions, then find the answers.
• Ask it to identify the problem, then use your craft and lived experience to solve it.

For example: Instead of “Will you edit my picture book for me?”

Say: “I’ve written a picture book for ages 4-7. Will you please read it as if you’re a busy parent walking past it at Target, and let me know if the title, pitch, and first few lines grab you or if you’d put it back on the shelf? Please list all the reasons you might pass on this. Do not rewrite this book for me, but offer ideas for different ways I could approach my concept, title, or story that would better appeal to parents.”

See the difference?

The first approach asks AI to act without putting any guardrails in place. The second clearly sets up the goal you have (the output you’re requesting), the approach you want it to take (rules to follow and behave like), and boundaries it can’t cross (rules to not overstep or take over the creative process).

And if you ask AI to write, rewrite, illustrate, or create part of the finished book that you chose to use, be transparent about it. Understand what you created, what the tool created, and what rights you hold. That’s responsible AI use.

The Bottom Line: AI Is a Choice, Not a Character Test

Using AI doesn’t automatically make someone a bad writer. And refusing to use AI doesn’t automatically make someone a better one.

The quality, care, and decisions you make for the young reader you’re writing for still matter. So do consent, copyright, privacy, transparency, and respect for other creators’ work.

I do not want writers shamed into hiding their AI use. I want them educated enough to make an informed decision and confident enough to tell the truth about it.

I also don’t want writers pushed into using technology they don’t trust or want. Choice belongs on both sides.

You can use the tool or not. You can purchase a book made with AI or not. Like in all art forms, the choice ultimately lives with the consumer and the creator.

But please don’t act like this technology is something you can ignore. AI is already being built into the tools writers and publishers use, so understanding it will make you a more informed and prepared author, whether you choose to use it or not.

Want to Learn How to Use AI Without Handing Over Your Book?

If you want to use AI for brainstorming, feedback, research, or another layer of support while protecting your manuscript and keeping the creative work yours, start with Your Safe Start with AI.

You’ll learn how to review your privacy settings, create clearer boundaries, and use AI as a support tool without asking it to take over the work you want to call your own. Learn more about Your Safe Start with AI here.

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About Journey to Kidlit: We help driven writers create children’s books they’re proud of through proven frameworks, honest guidance, and a commitment to quality over speed. Because every children’s book should be worth a child’s time.

Learn more about our approach here.