Kill Your Chatbot Artwork … Now Being Sold by a Chatbot? Also, bookplate designs
A few weeks ago, I launched a line of merchandise on my Redbubble store (stickers, t-shirts, mugs) featuring an old miniature I drew of St. Thomas Aquinas destroying the brazen head built by his mentor (you can read more about this legend here), with the phrase KILL YOUR CHATBOT in one of my own typefaces.
Another website was recently brought to my attention, selling an identical hoodie. Now, this other seller might not be ripping me off — I suspect that it is a third-party vendor that has an agreement with Redbubble to carry the same merchandise, and that I will get some compensation from whatever they sell. What struck me as funny was how obviously the website’s text marketing the shirt was generated by a chatbot:
“It’s not literal,” someone said quickly, “It’s more like … you know, a vibe.”
I mean, I suppose it isn’t possible literally to kill something that isn’t alive to begin with, but this is very much not like … you know, a vibe.
I have gathered together my writing, signage, and merchandise in opposition to generative AI on my website, here.
Here is a selecation of custom bookplates that I have designed recently, all as black ink drawings on paper. Many more of these can be seen here.
