I had an emergency this week and couldn't draw anything.

Instead, for week 2, I dug up my decade-plus-old MS Paint drawing on a photo (from a past Halloween drawing challenge) and updated it a little.

Breadboard troubleshooting, the ultimate nightmare. Scary, am I right?

If you're wondering, this circuit is part of one of my 555 timer projects, a 3-digit counter display.

I think the simplicity here proves ANYONE could draw something like this without AI.

However, I was up against the rope this week. I know AI could crank out a really detailed drawing fast, but I would never use it. It belittles a cartoonist's artistic effort. It's a flippant disregard for merit, hard work, and developing skill. 

Despite my feelings, AI's attack on cartoonists is growing. Nieman Lab reported that AI (ChatGPT) was placing real cartoonists' signatures on generated works in their styles. This is despite the agreement between Condé Nast and ChatGPT specifically saying they could not train off of cartoons.

New Yorker veteran cartoonist Jason Adam Katzenstein responded to this news by saying, "But it's not the point for it to actually be funny or good. The point is that [AI usage is] trying to deal a death blow to labor. It's trying to render individual cartoonists obsolete because we cost money and take time."

In the same spirit, Brent Hecht, Microsoft's director of applied science, said in recently released court documents that AI was the "largest theft of labor in human history."

In my opinion, if you want to make a cartoon, you draw it. A human being draws it. Case closed. I like how simply the Australian Cartoonists Association says it, "[AI] should not replace the artist."

Should I give up against this overwhelming wave of AI laziness?

I ask you, the reader, for the final say in this matter.

AI in writing is lazy, and we all reject it. Journalists should never use AI in their final product; we can all agree with that, right? The "author" using AI isn't really a writer, even if they direct the AI to produce whatever text. This "author" then presents the AI work as a final product, their product. That's the problem. You can apply this to just about any art form, because art is difficult.

Engineering is difficult! Would you hire someone who only uses AI to produce circuit design or code, and that person has no reasonable and professional history with the underlying engineering? I doubt it.

AI's technological advancement isn't helping here. It's simply gaming the system and stealing opportunity from humans.

"The poll, Cabe?" Ah, yes... with no further ado.

AI images are everywhere, but I will specifically talk about what I have made by hand: sketches, paintings, comics, murals, cartoons, fashion, and comic strips. All art-related. See below: