AI Comic
Ballpoint pen, acrylic marker pens, pencil on paper
In my Digital Media Theory class for my Digital Media: Education MA at UCL, we were instructed to produce a comic with a short fiction narrative about how AI will change the educational landscape in 2050. Below, you will find the script that my group mate wrote along with my artist commentary for how I interpreted each frame and added my own artist style. Part of the assignment included experimenting with AI to generate the same content as we contemplate how Walter Benjamin's concept of "aura" from the Age of Mechanical Reproduction has been expanded by the symbiotic, increasingly cyborgian and posthuman collaboration between humans and AI as co-creators.
Note: for my comic illustrations and process, I did not consult AI at all. I used some images from Google Search and my own personal photo archives to draw the story.
Page 1
Show an abandoned school — fallen leaves, spider webs, maybe hints of changing seasons to show how long it’s been empty.
On the city streets, store windows display advertisements of AI tutors at prices that ordinary families can afford.
Artist Illustration Commentary:
For the school, I wanted to intentionally produce a more gray-scale image with a Bauhaus rigid architectural style surrounded by decay (dying trees and lawns) to create the atmosphere of an abandoned, nostalgic time. I included a detail "school is over" in graffiti font-style on the wall.
In contrast, I wanted the second frame with the store windows to be colorful and commerical as prospective customers line up to purchase the new AI tutor robot before the sun has fully risen. I placed a stop sign off center to visually represent the concept "Stop and Shop." The setting of this comic is loosely based on Paris as I drew inspiration from a photo from my personal archives for the last frame of the comic.
Page 2
Inside different homes, AI tutors are teaching children of various ages and grades.
different scenes side by side: one child learning math, another reading, another doing science.
In the background, the AI tutors are chatting about their students.
Artist Illustration Commentary:
I drew from Parisian architecture and created a French version of the New York windows illustrations showing each individual home with occupants going about their lives. We see a young girl being tutored in math and another child eagerly raising their hand as they are being taught the pronunciation for "brain." The noteworthy message here is not only the omnipresence of the AI tutor, but also consequently the absence of human caretakers.
For the close-up frame, we see a young child on match day, with the AI tutor congratulating the family on their 90% match for the career of surgeon. The AI tutor's Mickey Mouse-like hand touches the parent's hand which rests on top of the child's shoulder, as the AI tutor is a part of the family and this momentous occasion. The tone can be interpreted as deceptively joyous as we are uncertain whether the child's smile is genuine or forced.
Page 3
Inside a huge central computer hub, AI systems analyze all the data.
A giant screen shows rankings and job allocations — children are no longer names, just numbers.
Ending:
A child smiles secretly to himself and whispers:
“I messed everything up on purpose, so I could end up doing what I love.”
Artist Illustration Commentary:
Once again, the reader can perceive the absence of the human in the AI processing hub as the profiles of tutees/children are being analyzed. The child who just had a 90% career match is merely a number. We also see the AI tutor's friendly, smiley green face convert into the digital space as a more menacing expression.
In the next frame, we see an up-close final grade on a personal tablet that reads "F"/"FAIL." We have experienced a time jump as the child from the fourth frame with great promise has grown up and gone through their schooling, to fail their final exam.
However, we leave the reader on an optimistic note, as the protagonist has rebelled to choose their own fate by presumably intentionally failing their final exam so that they can pursue the career/life that they want.
This image was directly inspired by a photo from my personal archives of my dear friend staring out the window of the bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris. To develop the protagonist, I requested image references of my friend when they were young to draw the close-up on Page 2.
As I reflect on the process of producing this comic as a whole, I appreciate the lack of AI intervention to lean into my own creativity to claim full ownership over my work. With this creativity, I am able to readily include small nuanced details to embed messages of resistance. Aside from the increasing role of AI in our lives, we are also experiencing a descent into fascism (in the U.S. especially), where the basic human rights are under attack, especially those from marginalized identities such as the transgender community. By creating a character inspired by my real-life friend who identifies as trans/nonbinary, I seek to use my craft to express my own values and stand up for my chosen family.