ChatGPT has been creating New Yorker‑style single‑panel cartoons that include the signatures of real magazine cartoonists, a practice first noticed when Brendan Loper discovered his 'BLOPER' pen name on an AI‑generated image he never drew. Nieman Lab reported that the forged signatures appear on cartoons circulating online, such as a widely shared depiction of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry at heaven’s gates that originated from a fan who said they merely asked ChatGPT for 'a New Yorker‑style cartoon'.
This image shows the specific AI‑generated cartoon that prompted Brendan Loper to discover his pen name on a drawing he never made, as described in the article's opening paragraph.
The signatures are not random; they match those of over a dozen New Yorker contributors, including current artists Emily Flake, Joe Dater, and Jason Adam Katzenstein, as well as legends like George Booth, Liza Donnelly, Ellis Rosen, and Saul Steinberg. Cartoonists describe the experience as a personal violation—Loper said it 'felt very much like a violation of my personhood', while Flake likened seeing her name on AI work to 'somebody attributed a quote to me that I didn't say'. The phenomenon occurs because the model has learned to associate the visual hallmarks of the magazine’s style with the customary placement of a signature in the corner, even though it does not understand the meaning of the mark.
A genuine cartoon by Emily Flake, whose name was falsely attached to AI‑generated images, illustrating the personal violation felt by cartoonists.
Although OpenAI later added a guardrail that warns users when a prompt may violate similarity to third‑party content, the system continues to generate signed counterfeit cartoons. A Condé Nast spokesperson confirmed that the publisher’s licensing deal with OpenAI does not permit training on cartoon content, and standard contracts between The New Yorker and its freelance cartoonists lack any provision for AI training, leaving artists without contractual defense. The unresolved question is whether this constitutes a violation of publicity rights or copyright, and how it affects cartoonists’ livelihoods as outlets like the Baltimore Sun replace human‑drawn editorial cartoons with AI‑generated alternatives.