EqualTales
An AI-powered children's storybook generator featuring real women from history—built in 48 hours for a hackathon with a mission.
This is how it starts. A question, a prompt, and curiosity.
The Challenge
A hackathon challenge with a mission: create something that helps close the gender gap in STEM.
Research shows that representation matters. Girls who see women in STEM are more likely to pursue those careers themselves.
Can AI create meaningful children's content that challenges stereotypes and inspires young girls to see themselves as scientists, engineers, and leaders?
My Contributions
Research
Design
Development
How I Made an Impact
Identifying the Gap
Recognized that most children's books feature male protagonists. Girls need to see themselves as scientists, engineers, and leaders—not just princesses.
Choosing Authenticity
Used real historical women like Marie Curie and Mae Jemison instead of fictional characters. Real stories create real impact.
Visual Consistency
Developed a watercolor illustration style that creates cohesive, warm visuals across all generated images—solving the AI inconsistency problem.
Personal Connection
Wove the child's name directly into the narrative, transforming a generic story into a personal adventure.
The Product
Landing Page 
Stereotype Input 
Historical Figures 
Generated Story Design Evolution
Building with AI requires iteration. Here's what I learned through trial and error:
What I Tried That Didn't Work
- Generating unique characters per story—faces were inconsistent across pages
- Using photorealistic image style—uncanny valley effect
- Generic fictional role models—felt hollow without authenticity
What Actually Worked
- Real historical women (Marie Curie, Mae Jemison) for instant authenticity
- Watercolor illustration style for cohesive, warm visuals
- Child's name woven into narrative for emotional connection
Visual Direction
The watercolor illustration style was a deliberate choice to solve AI's consistency problem while creating warm, inviting visuals.
Key Trade-off
Chose authenticity over flexibility—real historical figures limit story variety but create deeper emotional impact.
By anchoring stories to real historical figures, we limited the variety of narratives we could tell. But the authenticity of real women's achievements—Marie Curie discovering radium, Mae Jemison traveling to space—creates a deeper emotional impact than any fictional character could.
Outcome
The judges recognized that EqualTales wasn't just a technical achievement—it was a meaningful application of AI to address a real social challenge.
What This Shows About Me
This project demonstrates my ability to combine design thinking, AI tools, and social impact into a cohesive product under extreme time pressure.
Mission-Driven Design
I'm drawn to projects with real-world impact. Closing the STEM gender gap isn't just a hackathon theme—it's a problem worth solving.
Rapid Prototyping
I can take an idea from concept to deployed product in 48 hours. Speed enables experimentation and learning.
AI-Native Thinking
I understand how to leverage AI tools effectively—knowing when to prompt, iterate, and make trade-offs for the best outcome.