Kathryn Hulick on her science stories for kids, writing about AI, and more

Kathryn Hulick is Massachusetts-based science journalist and children’s books author. Her most recent book, THE UFO FILES (2025), imagines an encounter with alien visitors. WELCOME TO THE FUTURE (2021) explores ten technologies that may change the world, including robots, virtual reality, and fusion energy. STRANGE BUT TRUE (2019) explains the science and history of ghosts, UFOs, psychics, and other paranormal mysteries.  She also writes about science—including topics like AI, robotics, and technology—for Science News Explores and Science News.

You’ve been interested in writing since you were really young! When were you sure that you wanted to be a writer?

I knew at the age of eight that I wanted to be an author. I was very interested in fantasy, science fiction, and writing adventure stories. In college, I took creative writing classes, and the stories I wrote were nothing like my classmates. I realized later that I was already writing for kids. I was already interested in that audience—in that sense of wonder that kids have, that curiosity and willingness to ask big questions and just go after the answers.

How did you move towards science writing?

I was always interested in science. However, I wasn’t that engaged in my science classes, possibly because experiments just didn’t hold that much interest for me. I never really liked diving deeply into one specific area; I really liked learning about all different kinds of science, so I read a lot of popular science books through high school and college. 

After college, I joined the Peace Corps and taught English for two years in Kyrgyzstan. While I was there, I received some children’s magazines for my classroom, and when I read through them, I realized this is what I want to write.

So, I got back and got an internship at a children’s magazine group,  located near my parents’ house. I gravitated towards the science magazine Odyssey, and worked closely with the editor. I wrote my first published piece for her in 2007. That established my longest relationship with a magazine— over 15 years. When Odyssey merged with Muse magazine, I continued writing for them. Sadly, the magazine has since closed, but that really started off my career.  

I was still writing book-length fantasy and science fiction on the side, I had a writer’s group, I was trying to reach out to agents and editors, but I was not really getting anywhere. And so, when my son was born, I decided to set aside that side of my writing and really dive into the science journalism. I started looking for new venues and found Science News Explores, an offshoot of Science News—one of the longest-running science magazines in the US. I started writing for them in 2013, and they’re currently my main employer. Science News Explores is a marvelous resource; many educators use it in the classroom. It’s original reporting on current science research done for young people, which I think there’s not that much of it out there. 

Could you tell me about your first book and how it came about?

My first book was Strange but True (Quarto, 2019). It’s a nonfiction book for middle grade readers about the science and history of paranormal mysteries. I wrote that book because the publisher actually reached out to me. They said, “You’ve written about mysteries really well for Muse magazine; we like your writing style. Would you like to pitch us a book on this kind of topic”? And I said, “Of course.”

What kind of audience do you have in mind when you write?

I always imagine a young teenager or older child, someone who’s old enough to really think about deep questions but young enough to still be curious. But anyone who’s curious can enjoy the stories in my books and articles, they really do offer a great introduction to different areas of technology. I’ve had a lot of grown-ups who’ve read and enjoyed my work.

Tell me about your latest book.

My new book, The UFO Files, goes back to that very first thing I loved to write about, which is science fiction and adventure. When I was eight, I actually wrote a short story about aliens landing at my school! The book is unique because it’s in a graphic novel format, so it’s supposed to look like this is the notebook that an investigator put together, with notes, photos, and emails, trying to understand this UFO that landed.

While this is science fiction, it’s also non-fiction because of all the sidebars that explain the science that’s happening in the story.

So, this is like a blend of both science fiction and science writing for kids.

Exactly, yes. I also created an educator’s guide to accompany it, and one thing I hope teachers do with it is help kids understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction. I think that’s especially important in today’s world, where so much information is presented as if it’s real, but it’s actually not.

What got you interested in AI?

I think it started when I read the book Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. It’s  presented in a way that no other book I’ve read has been. He connects these realms that are usually separate, like music, art, math, philosophy, and they all come together to tell a story about this big idea in math—that’s how I love to think about things. I love to take very different areas and find what’s similar about them.

The book also got me thinking about the idea that computers might think—what would it mean for a machine to have a mind? And that’s a question that is just absolutely fascinating to me.

So I followed the field of AI closely from the very beginning of my career, and now I cover AI, computing and robotics for Science News Explores as well as Science News, which targets adults.

What are your thoughts on AI today?

There’s a lot of things to be concerned about with what’s happening with AI now, but I also still at my heart remain excited about the idea that we could someday create a sort of machine–mind. I am hopeful that we’ll find a way to use it for good, and not just fill the world with a bunch of misinformation and badly written regurgitation and art. That’s unfortunately what’s happening right now. But I do hope that we find a way past that.

I  was also curious that as someone who is into both AI and writing, what is your take on the whole “AI will replace writers” and opinions like that?

I’m not scared of it at all because it can’t do what I do. It can’t go talk to real people and tell their stories. And I’m putting stuff out in the world that has never been there before. I’m talking to a scientist who just did some research in the real world and I’m explaining their research and what they did in their lab to other human beings and AI. All AI can do is go and find things that already happened and regurgitate them and put them together.

Still, I actually find AI to be very useful sometimes. I use it to help me understand technical papers. I do this very cautiously when I’m also talking to the researchers, so that if the AI messes up, I have the actual source also telling me what’s going on. When AI is part of your process, but not the end result, it can be useful.

Also, its important to understand that the current AI powering ChatGPT is not a robot that’s going to take over the world, it’s a statistical pattern matching algorithm that’s really good at sounding like a person.

You don’t come from a science background, but you write in-depth about complicated science, like AI. Did you ever find it a struggle to get into it? What would your advice be to other people who don’t have a hard science background but are getting into science writing?

Honestly, that’s the fun part for me. To explain something at a level that a 10-year-old can understand, you have to understand it very thoroughly yourself. I spend way more of my time learning than I do writing. I love a good challenge and a lot of times I find myself writing about something that I think I’m not going to be smart enough to understand. But I just stick with it. And that breakthrough moment when I feel like, “Oh, I’m getting this now.” That’s what I love.

As a last question, what is your favorite part of writing books for young kids?

I think my favorite is when I get the book, hold it in my hand, and look at it with the pictures and the text. And I just love imagining young readers with the book. Every once in a while, I’ll get a picture of a kid reading the book or I’ll get some feedback. It doesn’t happen often with kids’ books, but I just love knowing that there’s kids out there engaging with this stuff, their minds being opened or being fascinated and getting this kind of wow moment. That’s really what drives a lot of my writing. That’s why I named my Substack “Wow! Tech and Nature”—if I’m saying wow, then that’s something I want to write about and share with my readers.