After our first book’s success, the itch to create more was undeniable. I embarked on a novel project—a humorous take on the ten heads of Ravana. While exploring illustration ideas, I stumbled upon the incredible potential of Artificial Intelligence for content creation. I spent several weeks attempting to craft illustrations around the “Ten Heads of Ravana,” but unfortunately, AI fell short with the complexity of the visions for richly detailed, character-filled pages.
This challenge, however, led me to discover an alternative use for AI. I shifted gears towards an anthology of Vedic gods and goddesses, a project well-suited to AI’s capabilities. As is typical with creative endeavors, it required a few iterations to fine-tune the details. In these instances, AI proved invaluable, offering a plethora of options that left me spoiled for choice. This experience not only streamlined the creative process but also opened up new avenues for employing AI in artistic expression.
Here’s good example of what it managed to create using a reasonably detailed prompt.
It was also handy in generating some side images. These are some diyas using various combinations.
While we encountered some hiccups along the way, the journey was still filled with laughter and learning. For instance, during one attempt to depict the god Brahma with his four heads, the AI stubbornly offered up three, five, or even more heads, leading to some truly hilarious results that my son and I couldn’t help but giggle over.
Despite these challenges, the process was successful enough to move forward with publishing our book. Of course, there were still imperfections—my son, for example, remains quite unhappy that Shiva’s hands aren’t blue like his arms. Yet, as with any human endeavor, it’s important to give AI some leeway for its quirks.
The textual content required a hands-on approach, with AI serving more as a support tool. We did some deep diving into character research and narrative elements. While the AI struggled with crafting stories from scratch, it excelled at modifying and enhancing content, such as making paragraphs more child-friendly—a task it performed exceptionally well.
Finally, the usual steps of formatting the manuscript into a Kindle Direct Publishing template, proofreading, ordering draft copies, and revising were necessary. All in all, from start to finish, this book came to life in about 8 to 10 weeks.