CARTOONISTS RIGHTS will not use generative A.I. and nor shall we engage the services of those who do.
CARTOONISTS RIGHTS is an organization focused upon advocacy and assistance for cartoonists suffering human rights violations as a result of what they draw, and in particular defense of their freedom of expression. At the time of writing it cannot be asserted with certainty that generative A.I. has been the root cause of any such violation. That said, we do not believe A.I. is benign. Indeed, we share many of the grave concerns expressed by colleagues in our own and in other related sectors.
The technology is predicated upon and cannot develop further without the massive misappropriation of creative work. What has been released so far has already had a serious deleterious effect on opportunities across the visual and applied arts. Not very long ago many cartoonists were rightly outraged by A.I. facsimiles of their work circulated by plagiarists. Any who persist in using it risk forfeiting their grounds to complain about how hard it is to make a living and demonstrate a fundamental disregard for the theft suffered by their peers, as well as counterparts in other disciplines.
A.I. hastens the “dead internet” i.e. a space filled with content created and consumed by no-one, and with it reduces the viability and visibility of cartoons on the last remaining outlet(s) for the majority of practitioners.
And most importantly, A.I. hurts people. It is synonymous with dis- and misinformation, a deluge of “revenge porn” and child sexual abuse images, fascist memes, and there is mounting evidence of its catastrophic damage on mental health and critical thinking among users. It is anti-journalism, resulting in an environment where no evidence can be trusted, which is an obvious boon to authoritarians and extremists.
In addition there is the matter of professionalism. When they hear from us, our clients, donors, and supporters rightly expect to receive a level of courtesy and respect which should include an effort made to be accurate, with any conclusions based upon both lived experience and careful thought. Generative A.I.’s “slop” fails on all these counts.
Bearing the foregoing in mind, CARTOONISTS RIGHTS shall undertake the following as policy effective from January 2026:
- While we advise in the strongest possible terms against its use, we will extend to anyone who has suffered a verifiable human rights violation after disseminating a cartoon made with generative A.I. in whole or in part, the same attention and consideration as any other potential client. Cartoonists’ safety and their human rights take primacy over methodologies.
- However as a corporate entity we will be “A.I. free”, meaning:
- our staff shall never make use of generative A.I. internally nor commission any external supplier who does so, and this applies across any and all forms of content and media;
- nor may any individual making use of generative A.I. in their professional output be designated a Regional Representative of this organization – the two are incompatible.
