“Prompt” is now a buzzword. It is newly synonymous with artificial art, and Koren Shadmi has now coined Prompt Artist in a comic strip. Shadmi is among a chorus of artists who are raising questions about how “prompts” will impact art and design.
Although not an alarmist, in his two-page comic strip Shadmi—an Israeli-born, New York–based comics artist, illustrator and teacher—explores some of the problematic aspects of AI art. “The comic reflects my own frustrations with what I’m witnessing in that space,” he explains, “mainly how this new unregulated technology is abused while artists are left powerless to act against it. Unlike actors or screenwriters, illustrators and cartoonists have no union to help reign in the use of AI. We are already seeing artists being replaced by this cheaper technology, and the irony is that this new technology was fed the work of the same artists it’s replacing.”
He insists this will be a one-off piece. We’ll see.
