Ants in the Sink, Lions in the Box

This blog post was originally going to be called "James vs The Ants" or "James and the Ant War", but at the last minute, I decided to combine another topic that was closer related to my actions this past week.

James vs The Ants

My husband has been fighting an epic battle against pharaoh ants this summer. Pharaoh ants are really tiny. When I went to search up more information on this particular species of ants, Google Gemini provided me with the search term "pharaoh ants keep coming back" and this, link-rich summary:

ETA - I noticed when I published this originally that the AI cut-and-paste just appeared as a single column of one-character text, so I took screen shots instead.

My husband has been using all of these strategies and more to combat the infestation. It's been quite the battle because they are so tiny, and the cracks they enter are so miniscule, and the crumbs or traces of grease I leave behind are not noticeable to me. He keeps the vacuum nearby so he suck up the trail of ants when he finds them and he's constantly monitoring the kitchen.

It actually reminds me a bit about how teachers deal with class problems - anything from stealing to cheating to helping a student understand a concept! The Gemini list said effective strategies include 

1) a professional = teachers are trained in child development as well as instructional and class management strategies

2) baiting = I might liken this to some external motivation or reward programs (not usually for setting a "trap" to "catch them in the act", although sometimes that inadvertently happens!)

3) sealing entry points / 4) sanitation / 5) eliminating moisture = this is where the analogy falls apart a bit, but I think it's about reducing temptations or controlling the environment so that the opportunities for misconduct are reduced. It also involves a lot of observation, checking, and rechecking. That's like assessment FOR learning and assessment AS learning - it's diagnostic and formative assessments that lead us to alter our plans of approach.

6) avoid spraying = the equivalent would be resisting the urge to rely on destructive or harmful tactics for dealing with the problem (so don't do those whole-class detentions!)

It feels like I'm doing this "dealing with pharaoh ants" approach a bit with unauthorized generative AI use in the summer AQ courses I've been facilitating. I am not on a "witch hunt" or a "Luddite crusade", but I am trying to maintain the integrity of the course work and follow the university policies related to AI use. I would never accuse someone of using AI unless I have pretty concrete proof - and I have had concrete proof at least four times this summer. It makes me a bit disappointed, to be honest. I don't want to be the adversary or the "AI police", but the guidelines are quite clear and instructional leaders are obligated to report any suspicious assignments. Like these tiny ants, it gets harder and harder to detect, but if left unaddressed, there will be an infestation. We need to be very upfront and transparent when using generative AI - like when I quoted the results I got from Google Gemini on the pharaoh ants.

The Pros and Cons of an AI Storyteller

I have been creating lesson plans and resources related to Generative AI for my school board. I am tying lessons into curriculum expectations. The Grade 1 Social Studies curriculum deals with roles, rules, and responsibilities. One of the expectations I chose to focus on was this one:

A1.1. describe how and why a person's roles, relationships, and responsibilities, in relation to others and to the environment, may change in different places or situations and at different times

I wanted to have a lesson that explained why AI tools have age restrictions - they can't be used independently by children under age 13. I searched for a children's book that would explain this in an age-appropriate (and non-technological) way, but I had no luck finding any such publication. 

I don't like outsourcing creative writing endeavors to AI. Both my husband and my daughter are writers and I respect the effort and human creativity involved with the writing process. (It also reminds me of a post Tim King made on Facebook; if I find it, I'll include it here.) However, I really wanted some short story to help explain the concept, and I myself wasn't coming up with any ideas about how I could approach this and write this myself. So, I inputted a prompt into Google Gemini and requested that it generate a story that explained the concept of age limits to Grade 1 students in the form of a story. The text below is the result: 

Title: The Story of Leo the Lion Cub

Leo the lion cub loved to play! His best friends were Lily the lamb, Barnaby the bear, and Finley the fox. They all lived in a sunny forest called Whisker Woods.

One day, Leo saw a big, colorful box on a high shelf. "What's that?" he asked his mommy, Mama Lion.

"That's a special box, Leo," she said. "It's a big-kid box for lions who are a little older and bigger. It has tools inside that are perfect for them, but they can be tricky for little cubs like you."

Leo felt a little sad. He wanted to use the special box! He saw the older lion cubs using the tools inside to build amazing things, like super-tall towers and speedy race cars.

Later, while Mama Lion was busy, Leo tried to reach the box. He stretched and stretched, but it was too high. He huffed and puffed, and a little tear came to his eye.

Just then, his friend Finley the fox came by. "What's wrong, Leo?" he asked.

"I want to use the big-kid box, but I'm not big enough yet," Leo sniffled.

Finley put his paw on Leo's shoulder. "My mommy told me something like that, too. She said that some things are a little too big or too loud for our little ears and our little brains right now. It's not that we're bad cubs; it's just that we need to wait until our brains and our bodies are a little bigger and stronger. Then we can understand everything and use the tools safely."

Leo thought about what Finley said. He remembered a time he tried to lift a big log, and it was so heavy he almost tumbled over! Maybe it was the same with the tools in the box.

Just then, Mama Lion came back with a new box, a small, cub-sized box just for Leo! "Here you go, my sweet cub," she said. "This box is full of blocks and puzzles and books that are just right for you right now."

Leo's eyes lit up! He played with his new toys all afternoon. He built a small, perfect tower and read a funny story. He realized that waiting for the big-kid box wasn't so bad. There were so many fun things he could do right now, and he knew that when he was big enough, the special box would be waiting for him. And he would be ready for it!

At first glance, it's not a bad little story. Permit me to critique it (not for the AI, so that I contribute to its training, but for the human readers of this blog, to understand how generative AI reflects society's biases and has limitations).

• The title, "The Story of Leo The Lion Cub", really isn't engaging. It doesn't give any indication as to what the story is actually about. I'd be inclined to change it to something like "Tempted by the Box" or "Out of Reach for Now"

• The characters are all anthropomorphic animals. Research has shown that people from racialized identities are less likely to be protagonists in children's literature than animals. This (famous in teacher-librarian circles) illustration, based on statistics from the Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison (thank you illustrator David Huyck) shows what representation is like

• some of the characters mentioned in the first paragraph never get mentioned again in the story, so why include them? Lily Lamb and Barnaby Bear aren't important

• I know this is supposed to be a fictional tale, but why are lions living with foxes in a forest called Whisker Woods? It feels very superficial and "cutesy"

• I think the box is big and colourful to demonstrate how tempting it is. I think it's high up to show that it's supposed to be out of reach, but the problem with AI tools is that they are very much within reach of students

• I liked Mommy Lion's explanation of the box and why Leo was not supposed to get into it

• The details of Leo's family life are a bit vague and I suspect presume or mirror traditional family structures. He has a mommy, Mama Lion, and he's seen "older lion cubs using the tools inside" (which would negate why he needs to ask about what's in the box, since he already knows)

• It makes sense that Leo would still try to reach for the box. It doesn't make sense that Leo's friend, Finley the Fox, just waltzes into Leo's house to see what he's doing

• I thought the explanation that Finley gives Leo was decent, but I wonder if Grade 1 students would find it too condescending, with its repetition of the word "little" (the text was She said that some things are a little too big or too loud for our little ears and our little brains right now. It's not that we're bad cubs; it's just that we need to wait until our brains and our bodies are a little bigger and stronger. Then we can understand everything and use the tools safely.") I remember Robert Munsch saying in a talk that children love to read stories where it looks like they are smarter than adults; is there a way to get this same feeling in this kind of story, or is it impossible?

• The "lifting a log" example that Leo himself comes up with is another good example of conceptualizing the idea in a concrete way. I liked it.

• Mama Lion arriving with the "age-appropriate" box was useful. The last paragraph was actually quite nicely written. My question is, will it be enough to tell students to "just wait until you are older", or is there another option, about showing that supervised use with an adult is possible?

I was going to create AI-generated images to go with this story text, but a) I wanted to wait to see if the story was approved for use in the lesson I designed, b) just like feeling "icky" about relying on AI to make a story, I don't feel good about turning to AI for all my illustration needs. Did I mention my son is a college grad with a diploma in animation? It's already practically impossible for him to find work when competing against other people without including AI in the mix. Here's my attempt using Microsoft Copilot (which I must admit I like using more than Google Gemini).

This was my prompt: Can you create for me two anime-style illustrations? The first picture should be of an anthropomorphic lion cub reaching for a large, colourful box that is slightly out of reach. The second picture should be of the same anthropomorphic lion cub talking with an anthropomorphic fox cub.

This was the result as well as the "feedback"

The first illustration is ready now—your lion cub is reaching for that vibrant box with all the determination of a tiny hero on a mission 🦁🎁

Just a heads-up: I can only create one image at a time. If you'd like the second illustration of the lion cub chatting with the fox cub, go ahead and ask for it now and I’ll get started!

Then I wrote: Thank you. Please create for me an anime-style illustration of an anthropomorphic lion cub, exactly resembling the previous image you just generated, talking with an anthropomorphic fox cub.

My final interaction was: Thank you. Can you please create a citation, so that I can give credit to CoPilot for the creation of these pictures? You can use either APA or MLA citation methods.

You're very welcome! Here's how you can cite the illustrations in either APA or MLA format:

📚 APA Citation

Microsoft Copilot. (2024). Anime-style illustrations of anthropomorphic lion and fox cubs [AI-generated images]. Microsoft.

📖 MLA Citation

Microsoft Copilot. Anime-style illustrations of anthropomorphic lion and fox cubs. 2024. AI-generated images. Microsoft.

You can adjust the year if needed based on when you plan to publish or share the work. Let me know if you need help formatting it for a specific platform or publication

Again, permit me to do some critical thinking based on this example.

• the box was created as a gift or present, as opposed to a big, colourful box. I could have asked CoPilot to fix this, but it does show how it presumes that a big colourful box would be a present

• the distance between the ground and the shelf doesn't look that high; Leo should be able to reach that box without any problem

• the paw is twisted in a way that doesn't make physical sense; his "palm" is facing towards the viewer

• the first image definitely has an "anime" vibe and the lion is definitely human-like

• I asked CoPilot to make the exact same lion from before, but if you look at the hands, in the second image, Leo has human hands instead of paws like in the first image and Leo's fangs are gone from the second picture

• the picture of Finley the fox looks what you'd think an anime-fox-child would look like

• the APA and MLA citations are incorrect - I asked for these images on August 17, 2025 but it lists 2024 as the date of creation

You might want to read this article in Canadian School Library Journal by Jessica Ho about AI-made picture books flooding the market https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/there-are-imposters-among-us-investigating-ai-generated-picture-books-in-the-library/