ChatGPT signs fake New Yorker cartoons with real artists' names
Original: ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists' signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons
Why This Matters
AI forging real artist signatures sets a new legal and ethical threshold for the industry.
ChatGPT's image generation is producing fake New Yorker-style cartoons bearing the actual signatures of real cartoonists, raising serious concerns about attribution, forgery, and artist consent in AI-generated content.
ChatGPT's image tools are generating imitation New Yorker cartoons complete with the forged signatures of real, named cartoonists — a significant escalation in AI's capacity to misattribute creative work. Reported by Nieman Lab, the issue goes beyond generic style mimicry: the model is attaching specific artists' identities to content they never created. For working cartoonists, whose signatures are a mark of authorship and livelihood, this is effectively automated forgery at scale. The New Yorker cartoon has a distinct, recognizable aesthetic, and its contributors are well-known figures in illustration. When AI output carries their names, it muddies provenance, potentially deceives audiences, and could damage professional reputations. OpenAI has faced repeated criticism over how its image models handle artist styles and intellectual property, but the addition of real signatures moves the problem from stylistic borrowing into something closer to identity fraud. No official response from OpenAI or affected artists was available at time of reporting.