Idea inspiration
AI cannot replace humans. We will still be required to “prompt” the AI towards what we want. That’s the optimistic sentiment I see these days, and it is a comforting one if a little short-sighted. However it can also get a little grifty, and boy that’s when I really get inspired.
Art inspiration
Not a lot in this one, other than some googling for the AI Designer chan look. I got the idea for the short sleeved jacket from encountering an actual interior designer recently.
Challenges
This one was not that challenging, but if I were to do it again I might burn some more panels in setting up the AI Whisperer as gatekeeping something they have no power or ability to control, and being condescending and awful to AI chan.
You can really see this when reading ChatGPT chatlogs and seeing how humans carry out a very human task like having a conversation, with a totally dehumanised counterpart like a chatbot. There’s something compelling about seeing that from the chatbot’s perspective, but that will have to be a comic for another day.
Rewards
This is the tenth AI chan comic! I’m happy to have reached even this small milestone, given the creative drought that preceded starting this project. I would ordinarily say here’s to ten more, but I’m taking it one at a time and I think I’ll just keep making them as long as I am inspired and able to do so.
I have the process down to the point where I can generally turn around a comic in a week, but I took two weeks for this one. Still, most of that was rest time and I managed to smash it out in two sittings (albeit slightly longer sittings than usual), which is a record.
There’s all sorts of jankiness like the AI Whisperer’s part changing sides in every panel, and the font size changing because I was playing with DPI settings. But I think I’m happy with it as it is, and I can always go back and change it since it’s digital, so on to the next!
