Artificial intelligence dominated the opening days of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, where the debate ranged from the ethics of illustration to the future of acquisitions and decision-making in publishing. The 63rd edition of the fair, which runs from 13 to 16 April in Bologna, has drawn more than 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries and regions, underlining why the event remains one of the sector’s most important global meeting points. Norway is this year’s Guest of Honour, adding another layer of international attention to an already crowded programme.
One of the clearest arguments for restraint came from Finnish illustrator Pirita Tolvanen, who used her masterclass to make the case that nonfiction picture-book artists should be far more open about how they work. In her view, the AI era has made transparency more than a professional nicety: it is now part of the defence against misinformation. She pointed to a 2022 survey of Finnish illustrators showing a wide gap between those who visit locations, consult experts and sketch on site, and those who do little beyond a final factual check.
Tolvanen illustrated her point with examples of books that document their own making through dated sketchbook pages, photographs taken in the field and author notes that explain where an image diverges from scientific reality. She also highlighted the value of so-called inventory illustrations, in which the accuracy of tools, equipment and other objects depends on the artist having handled them in person. Her wider warning was that, when AI can fabricate convincing evidence for things that never happened, children’s publishers need to demonstrate the basis for what they present as fact.
The conversation broadened on Tuesday at Bologna Book Plus’s AI Summit, where Nadim Sadek, founder and chief executive of Shimmr AI, argued that artificial intelligence could act as a creative accelerator rather than a threat. That optimism was challenged by a panel of startup founders who said the publishing industry’s acquisitions machinery is overloaded, leaving many writers unseen in vast submission queues. Rishiraj Chowdhury of Quantifiction cited one publisher with 150,000 unread titles, while Gavin Marcus of Storywise argued that technology should help match manuscripts to the right editors rather than simply reject them. Arsim Shillova of Libraro said a recent competition on his platform drew 7,000 entries, 10,000 readers and produced 30 commercially viable titles.
Even so, the summit did not settle into technophilia. Audience members questioned whether algorithmic tools can really predict what will succeed, and Chowdhury conceded that no model is perfect. Samir Patil of Scroll Media, who moderated the discussion, said distribution is still the most overlooked factor in publishing and suggested that AI’s most useful role may be improving acquisition decisions rather than trying to forecast blockbusters. Mary McAveney, president and chief executive of Abrams Books, ended the session with a notably cautious stance. She said the company is using AI for operational tasks such as data analysis, business intelligence and coding support, but not in the creative process, and warned against assuming the technology can replace the craft that helps books travel across languages and markets.
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Source: Noah Wire Services