Children's author Katie Eisenhart Schaeffer was at a happy hour for third grade moms when her phone buzzed. A family member had sent screenshots and a message: her brand new children's book had been ripped off. The screenshots were Google AI search results describing her book accurately and crediting an Instagram handle that was not hers.

Host Sarah Dooley was standing right next to her.

What happened next is the part worth hearing. Katie searched the handle and found nothing. She tried to recreate the search and could not. The result had been generated, and it never appeared again.

We walk through that night, what she checked, and what she does now before she believes an answer. We also get into the real version of this problem, where authors do have their titles copied and resold, the privacy settings worth reviewing if you use AI near your own work, and how Katie found an illustrator who paints in watercolor and does not own a computer.

At the time of recording, roughly 1 in 10 AI search results still contains a factual error, and the wrong ones look exactly like the right ones.

Chapters

00:00 Sponsor message from Nookly00:49 The text that said her book was stolen02:02 Meet Katie Eisenhart Schaeffer03:51 What she checked first05:07 How to spot an AI result in Google06:58 The 1 in 10 problem and the real book scams08:15 Privacy settings worth reviewing08:38 What AI helped with, and what it did not09:52 Inside Red Elephants and Blue Donkeys10:54 The illustrator who does not own a computer12:29 Circling back to the family member14:06 What to do when a result feels off14:49 Chatbot mode17:18 One takeaway for parents

About Katie

Katie Eisenhart Schaeffer is an Austin author and mom of 2. She spent years in PR and communications before writing her debut picture book, Red Elephants and Blue Donkeys, illustrated by Charles Fuge. Written for ages 4 to 8, it is about setting petty differences aside to solve a shared problem.

Find the book and sign up for preorder news: redelephantsandbluedonkeys.comInstagram: @authorkatieeisenhartschaeffer

This episode is sponsored by Nookly

You tell Nookly what you are working on with your kid, and it builds personalized stories, activities, songs, and videos around that goal. Visit nookly.com and use code AIMUM25 for 25 percent off.

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