The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective
This article explores how AI characters in children's literature are evolving from the traditional ‘Pinocchio paradigm’, where artificial beings strive to become human or gain human approval, toward more autonomous identities. With a focus on Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Peter Br...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elen Caldecott & Lucy Cuthew
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Leaf Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/126 |
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| _version_ | 1849708407068557312 |
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| author | Rachel Hamilton Christopher Piper |
| author_facet | Rachel Hamilton Christopher Piper |
| author_sort | Rachel Hamilton |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This article explores how AI characters in children's literature are evolving from the traditional ‘Pinocchio paradigm’, where artificial beings strive to become human or gain human approval, toward more autonomous identities. With a focus on Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, and Kirsty Applebaum’s TrooFriend, it analyses narrative techniques used to help AI characters assert these distinct identities. Drawing on Hayles' (1999) posthumanist theory, which challenges the assumption that consciousness and identity must be rooted in biological humanity, this article argues that, while progress has begun, AI characters in these texts remain constrained by the anthropocentric framing that has been challenged more successfully in other media. It proposes an evaluative framework for AI representation, inspired by the Bechdel test, to encourage authors to depict AI characters on their own terms.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d2cebb3b67294c6bb1c1bfe38e20ba68 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2753-6920 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Elen Caldecott & Lucy Cuthew |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Leaf Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-d2cebb3b67294c6bb1c1bfe38e20ba682025-08-20T03:15:39ZengElen Caldecott & Lucy CuthewLeaf Journal2753-69202025-07-013110.58091/229g-f020The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal PerspectiveRachel Hamiltonhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-0334-9615Christopher Piper This article explores how AI characters in children's literature are evolving from the traditional ‘Pinocchio paradigm’, where artificial beings strive to become human or gain human approval, toward more autonomous identities. With a focus on Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, and Kirsty Applebaum’s TrooFriend, it analyses narrative techniques used to help AI characters assert these distinct identities. Drawing on Hayles' (1999) posthumanist theory, which challenges the assumption that consciousness and identity must be rooted in biological humanity, this article argues that, while progress has begun, AI characters in these texts remain constrained by the anthropocentric framing that has been challenged more successfully in other media. It proposes an evaluative framework for AI representation, inspired by the Bechdel test, to encourage authors to depict AI characters on their own terms. https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/126creative writing for young peopleAIcharacterisationAI ethicsposthumanism |
| spellingShingle | Rachel Hamilton Christopher Piper The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective Leaf Journal creative writing for young people AI characterisation AI ethics posthumanism |
| title | The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective |
| title_full | The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective |
| title_fullStr | The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective |
| title_short | The Evolution of AI Characters in Children’s Literature: A Societal Perspective |
| title_sort | evolution of ai characters in children s literature a societal perspective |
| topic | creative writing for young people AI characterisation AI ethics posthumanism |
| url | https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/126 |
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