Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler has warned that artificial intelligence is becoming a "real threat" to his industry after discovering his artwork being reproduced "in a second" with what he called a "very limited moral compass."
The German illustrator, 68, who worked with children's author Julia Donaldson to create the Gruffalo's iconic look, said it was a worrying time for illustrators who are not protected in the same way authors are.
Speaking at the Publishers Association's annual reception in Parliament this week, Scheffler said he had recently been confronted by the power of AI, having naively thought it was a subject he could ignore.
He said that changed after someone showed him what happens to the Gruffalo when AI is prompted to create an image. He described the examples as "shocking," including the Gruffalo and the mouse appearing more or less recognisable as his drawing but placed in a completely alien context he had never created.
Ahead of the release of the third instalment in the series, Gruffalo Granny, which came out the day before his remarks, Scheffler said AI could generate the Gruffalo in settings such as Silicon Valley, or produce a whole story of the Gruffalo family being visited by their grandmother. He demonstrated by drawing the Gruffalo himself in lederhosen, saying AI could deliver similar results in less than a minute. He pointed out that the AI-generated characters were shown drinking alcohol, which he said proved the technology "has a very limited moral compass."
Who is Axel Scheffler
Scheffler is the illustrator behind the Gruffalo, one of the best known characters in children's literature, created alongside author Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo book, first published in 1999, has sold millions of copies worldwide and been adapted into an Oscar-nominated animated film.
AI guardrails and limits
Scheffler said the AI tool he used would not create the Gruffalo in "sexy underwear," as he was told doing so "would violate our guardrails around nudity, sexuality or erotic content." He also noted that the tool would not recreate Donaldson's actual words because she is a "living author," but that the same protection apparently did not extend to the work of illustrators.
He referenced websites such as AI Children's Book Creator, which claim they can produce "complete illustrated books" within minutes.
Donaldson's earlier AI warning
Scheffler's comments come two years after Donaldson herself branded AI "scarily impressive." In 2024, she said her son had used AI to write an alternate version of her book The Oak Tree. She said that within five seconds she had a whole rhyming poem about an oak tree, adding that while it "wasn't terribly good," it was "quite scary."
