AI-narrated stories that turn screen time into reading time — built on a newly issued U.S. patent — debut May 27.

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Brothers Willie Reale and Tom Reale will publicly launch Feral Fiction, the first patented AI-driven narrative management system, at the Yale Innovation Summit on May 27. Built on a newly issued patent — U.S. Patent No. 12,627,766, covering an AI language model–enabled interactive narrative engine — the platform is designed around one mission: turning screen time into reading time.

Rather than watch a story unfold, readers step inside it as a character and read and act their way through an AI-narrated world. The deeper they play, the more they read. "We don't want to use AI to replace reading but rather use it to make kids read more." said Willie Reale, the company's co-founder and president, a MacArthur Fellow and three-time Emmy-winning literacy producer. "What generally compels us to read a story, is a need to know what happens to the protagonist. When you inhabit the protagonist, you want to know what is going to happen to you."

The platform combines large language models with a sophisticated narrative framework that lets users actively participate inside evolving stories. Unlike scripted chatbots or linear interactive fiction, Feral Fiction adapts dialogue, scenes, characters, and outcomes in real time based on user input — and includes adjustable readability controls to support younger and reluctant readers.

"We realized that AI had finally reached the point where immersive narrative interaction could actually work," said co-founder and CEO Tom Reale, the patent's inventor, whose four decades in publishing have centered on literacy and curriculum. "For years, interactive systems were limited because authors had to predict every possible action a user might take. Large language models changed that equation."

Built by literacy experts and designed to be age-appropriate and safe, Feral Fiction launches as U.S. reading scores decline — just 31% of fourth-graders read at or above proficiency, per the 2024 Nation's Report Card. Beyond literacy, the founders have demonstrated uses spanning language learning in more than 25 languages, interactive fiction, training, and cultural preservation.

The company's third co-founder, chief financial officer Keith Suehnholz, is an EVP and CFO at Granite Associates and vice chairman of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Feral Fiction makes its first public appearance at the Yale Innovation Summit. Learn more at feralfiction.com/learn-more or contact co-founder and CEO Tom Reale directly.

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SOURCE Reale Brothers