AI is now able to tell personalised bedtime stories to children

AI may soon eliminate the need for waiting for new content for bedtime stories.

Stories generated by AI can now be tailored to a child's interests and preferences, narrated by AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard.

The original version of ChatGPT, which was launched last year, has the capability to generate a children's story from scratch.

Although AI has been known to lack originality and quality, parents have the freedom to control the narrative.

They can prompt specific details such as character names, allowing them to create customised stories involving their child alongside their beloved characters.

AI-generated stories may take over the ritual of bedtime storytelling / Yuichiro Chino/Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images

Dr. Natalia Kucirkova, a senior researcher in early childhood development, explained that the personalised stories that AI can provide is effective in grabbing children's attention - especially if the books are 'well written and designed to appeal to both children and their parents.'

One parent, facing a shortage of episodes of the Australian TV show Bluey, turned to a generative AI tool for help. Luke Warner utilised customisable bots on OpenAI to churn out fictional tales for his daughter based off the Bluey show.

The chatbot keeps the specifics such as the name of the character's school and the area she lives in, Warner said that these consistencies is what 'makes it [the story] more real and engaging.'

While this new decade of storytelling has the potential to relieve parents of some bedtime duties, it's not without its concerns.

Some experts are warning of the potential risk of copyright infringement.

For example, in the UK, copyright can be infringed if details like names link with backstories, mannerisms and expressions, according to Xuyang Zhu, a lawyer on the technology, IP, and information team at Taylor Wessing.

Additionally, rights holders may choose to take action if their fictional characters are at risk of 'being damaged reputationally.' However, some may see it as no more than innocent fanfiction stories.

Safeguarding measures are still need to keep the AI-generated stories safe for children / Yuichiro Chino/Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images

And of course, imagination is one thing in storytelling, but humour is another.

Olaf Falafel - a famous author and comedian - believes that AI just can't replicate humour as humans do. He said: 'I tried to get it to write a joke and it failed—no matter how much I tweaked it and pushed it, it just couldn't get how a joke works and what makes something funny.'

Others have expressed concerns about the need for focused attention and safeguarding measures to keep the AI-generated stories appropriate for children.

Some parents have turned to Bedtimestory.ai but have experienced issues with explicit content involving references to crime and profanity - definitely not what you want when trying to lull your little one to sleep.

Bedtimestory.ai cofounder Linus Ekenstam says the model relies on OpenAI's moderation API to ensure content is family-friendly. He explained: 'It’s not 100 percent watertight, but we are constantly improving, and … it will steer away from this type of input.'

'As the available tools become better, and we learn more about how to guide and steer the model, this too will improve over time.'