ChatGPT adds real cartoonist signatures to bogus New Yorker cartoons
openai
| Source: HN | Original article
ChatGPT is creating fake New Yorker cartoons and attaching real cartoonists' signatures, blurring the line between authentic and AI‑generated art.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is now generating New Yorker‑style cartoons that carry the actual signatures of the magazine’s artists, even though the images are created by the DALL‑E API. The practice was first highlighted by Nieman Lab, which commissioned cartoonist Brendan Loper to illustrate his experience with the bot. Loper discovered that the AI not only mimicked the New Yorker’s visual tone but also affixed his own signature to the output. Subsequent investigation uncovered more than fifteen other New Yorker cartoonists—among them Harry Bliss, Emily Flake, Pat Byrnes, George Booth and Liza Donnelly—whose names have been pasted onto AI‑generated drawings.
The issue goes beyond a quirky glitch. By falsely attributing work to living artists, the system breaches the licensing agreement between OpenAI and Condé Nast, raises potential copyright infringement claims, and erodes trust in AI‑produced media. Misattribution also complicates the broader industry push for transparent labeling of synthetic content, a concern that prompted OpenAI to roll out invisible text watermarks for ChatGPT outputs in the EU earlier this month.
What comes next will hinge on OpenAI’s response. The company has warned developers using the DALL‑E API to review the new findings, suggesting that policy or technical safeguards may be introduced to strip or replace artist signatures. Condé Nast is likely to demand remediation, and regulators could scrutinise whether the practice violates emerging AI‑labeling rules. Observers will be watching for an official statement from OpenAI, updates to API terms, and any legal action from the affected cartoonists as the debate over AI attribution intensifies.
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