He made a children’s book using AI. Then came the rage.

Ammaar Reshi thought of it as just a fun, creative idea: Use artificial intelligence tools to write and illustrate a children’s book that he had always wanted to make for a friend’s daughter. He gave himself only a weekend to do it.

But after finishing his project, the 28-year-old design manager at a California fintech company found himself caught in the crossfire of an escalating public debate: Are artificial intelligence tools a grim reaper for the arts?