To whom it may concern,
I am writing in regards to the artwork for an educational comic recently released by the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee, Navigating Menopause in the Workplace, funded by Henpicked. The artist credited for this project was Katy Stone.
My name is Eve Greenwood and I am an alumnus of both the University of Aberdeen (undergraduate) and the University of Dundee (where I completed a Masters of Design in Comics & Graphic Novels). I am also the founder of Quindrie Press, an internationally recognised publisher of independent comics, and the co-director of Small Press Scotland CIC and TAGS Festival, both of which aim to support independent comic creators and other self-publishing artists.
Despite zero disclosure for this anywhere in the final product, Katy Stone has unequivocally made heavy use of generative AI for Navigating Menopause in the Workplace. I am aware that Katy Stone and her collaborator Phillip Vaughan have released joint projects for which they have emphatically denied using AI, but Navigating Menopause in the Workplace features a series of completely nonsensical artistic decisions which only make sense if generative AI was used to produce the final work, or if generative AI was used as an underlying base which was then traced over to produce the final work. This includes tangles of hands and fingers that don’t make sense, backgrounds that change dramatically from panel-to-panel or shot-to-shot, furniture that changes completely between panels, backgrounds that heavily feature generative AI’s signature detail blur, characters’ bodies blending into each other, and many, many more tells. Comics are an excellent medium to easily share information and express emotion and they have seen particular success in the “graphic medicine” genre for this exact reason, yet the use of generative AI actively works against both of these goals. I am, to be honest, completely shocked by the fact that Katy Stone was permitted to hand this in, that Chris Murray and Phillip Vaughan signed off on this comic being ready for release as comic professors, and that the work was deemed a good-enough product by those involved considering the low quality of comic craft.
I believe this reflects incredibly poorly on both the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee, particularly as Dundee has recently shuttered its comics masters, and the use of generative AI can only harm the universities’ reputations and opinions of prospective students. It is easy to find other people discussing this project online and raising concerns about its use of generative AI. I am aware that none of the actively working comic professionals employed at the University of Dundee were approached or consulted on this project and the fact that a piece like this, which so blatantly and lazily uses generative AI rather than giving the topic the time and attention it deserves, was released is an embarrassment to all creatives involved. The use of generative AI for this project runs counter to the viewpoints held by the comic professionals currently running the comic-related courses at the University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, who I am aware expressly denounce using generative AI, and it is even sadder coming from a city whose culture and history is so heavily steeped in the art of comics. If the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee believe that generative AI is an appropriate tool to use in a project like this, then I can only conclude that both universities have little to no respect for this important and flourishing art form.
Furthermore, it is particularly disappointing to see this coming from Chris Murray and Phillip Vaughan, both of whom were my lecturers when I took the comics masters. I am sure that both Chris and Phil are well aware of the many, many comic professionals in Dundee and in Scotland who have worked on similarly educational comic projects and who would be available for hire, and that they would also be aware that these professionals would not minimise the importance of a project like Navigating Menopause in the Workplace by lazily using AI-generated images.
Most of all, I am disappointed for the PhD student whose research the project was based on, the contributors, and the charity Henpicked for having their names attached to a project that has ended up looking like this. I believe Katy Stone, Chris Murray, and Phillip Vaughan need to apologise for allowing such a poorly-produced project to be released, particularly with no disclosure about the use of generative AI, and that any future comic projects released by the University of Dundee or the University of Aberdeen need to be further scrutinised to ensure that generative AI was not used. Ideally, this project would be redrawn and given the attention it deserves by a different artist. It is utterly shameful that Henpicked’s funding was misused to allow someone to sloppily put a comic together in such a way.
Regards,
This morning I emailed the University of Dundee, the University of Aberdeen, and several of the contributors to this project to flag my disgust at the use of generative AI. There is no room for generative AI in Scottish comics, particularly not for topics like this which deserve respect and care.
