Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

There’s controversy in the Ockham Book Awards as two books by notable authors are withdrawn from competition because their covers were created using AI. Stephanie Johnson’s collection of short stories 'Obligate Carnivore' and Elizabeth Smither’s collection of novellas 'Angel Train' are the two books cancelled. Their covers were created using AI and the book awards are on high alert for anything that takes the place of human activity. The decision to amend the criteria around AI was spurred by a desire to support creative and copyright interests of the country’s writers and illustrators. So I understand the concern from the creative industries about the rise of AI, but I wonder if they really understand how AI was used in these circumstances. Covers are created by graphic designers. Sometimes they may commission an artist to draw the cover, but more often they’ve been creating images using computer programmes like Photoshop and various Adobe programmes.  But in all cases a human is in charge, and there’s