How could a law student go about building peace? You could graduate and snag a Biglaw gig and funnel most of the money to direct action organizations that feed and help folks get out of poverty. You could host negotiation or mediation clinics that foster conflict resolution skills so communities can resolve issues without resorting to violence. You could even use ChatGPT! A law student made a recent contribution to peace negotiations by writing a book that will help children keep the peace. American has coverage:
The children’s book idea first emerged during a Senior Research Associate (SRA) brainstorming session when Professor [Paul] Williams challenged the students to explore creative ways to engage with peacebuilding. “Half-joking but also a little serious, I suggested a children’s book,” recalled Sydney Robson. Though initially met with laughter, the idea took root as the SRAs saw it to thank Professor Williams for a transformative experience.
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To create the book, Robson uploaded concept maps and chapter drafts from the Building Durable Peace project and used ChatGPT to reimagine them as kid-friendly stories. “With the help of ChatGPT, I used those chapters to write new, whimsical stories,” Robson said. The illustrations were also AI-generated and refined with reference photos of Scrappy and Professor Williams to ensure likeness. “Suddenly, Scrappy wasn’t just a cartoon dog, she was our Scrappy, bounding across time to learn how peace is made.”
The book, titled Scrappy and the Philosopher Queens, follows Williams’s dog to discuss topics like disarmament, women’s participation, justice, and governance, along with child-friendly versions of the topics you’d likely discuss in Williams’s class. Goes to show dogs can teach kids new tricks!
The process of making the book sounds very similar to this TikToker’s $10k a month side hustle advice:
That’s one way to pay off those student loans! It would help to have a side hustle in your back pocket as repayment plans are getting dashed against the rocks.
While this may be the first book made with ChatGPT on legal negotiations marketed toward children, I’d expect that there will still be a lot of competition. News Nation discusses the challenges and legality of such an endeavor, warning that marketing and a changing legal landscape could determine if “your” book actually sells or if you can profit from it. The marketing aspect might be more important than the “is it legal” question in the short term. The market for online books is being flooded by ChatGPT right now, so if you want to get in, get out with the money quickly.
Profits aside, the book’s sentimental and commemorative value is pretty cool. We’ve covered several legal uses of ChatGPT on Above the Law: lawyers getting sanctioned over AI usage, a law school dean wanting a ChatGPT how-to to be part of the syllabus and the California Bar using AI to generate bar exam questions, to name a few. But making a children’s book to capstone a class has to be the most creative (and least worthy of ridicule) use of ChatGPT we’ve covered so far. Best of luck with the book!
Scrappy And the Philosopher Queens: How Law Students Penned a Peacebuilding Primer for Kids [American]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.