The controversial subject of comics and AI will come under scrutiny at Comics & AI: Critical Prompts, a special one-day multidisciplinary conference on the future of comics, technology, and creativity in September, in London.
The conference has been organised by the The City St George’s Interaction Lab and The Centre for Human-computer Interaction Design, City St George’s, University of London.
A Call For Papers asks technologists, artists, writers, designers, and practitioners to propose 20-minute papers, discussion panels, and artist’s demos. The deadline for 200-word abstracts is 10th July 2025.
This one-day, in-person conference seeks to prompt critical explorations of the creative, critical, technical, and speculative intersections of comics and artificial intelligence – generative AI in particular.
Expect a packed programme engaging with creative, technical, theoretical, and practical questions around generative AI, including tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL·E; copyright and law; ethics, bias, and environmental concerns; as well as style, creativity, and user experience.
“Everybody is talking about AI,” notes Ernesto Priego in the Call for Papers, a researcher based at the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design at City, University of London, who has been an advocate of Comic Studies since the 1990s.
“In comics circles, as in other creative fields and industries, the use of artificial intelligence remains controversial. What is exciting for some is worrying and even angering for many others. Recent academic research on generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in different disciplines continues to raise important questions that may appear alien to the media-specificity of Comics Studies proper.”
Ernesto has made no secret of the fact that although his promotional image for this Comics & AI: Critical Prompts event is an original hand-drawn sketch (pencil and ink on paper), it was then digitised and then fed to ChatGPT, with detailed prompts iteration.
“Ethical dilemmas involved in the production of this work including the in-person event were considered and can themselves be a prompt for discussion,” he suggests.
Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to rethink comics and AI with a multidisciplinary community.
• Comics & AI: Critical Prompts 10.00am – 6.00pm Thursday, 4 September 2025 | City St George’s, University of London | Registration fee: £15 (academics/professionals) | £5 (students/unwaged) | Registration deadline: 4 August 2025 | Register here
• Abstracts (200 words) + bios (100 words) due: 10 July 2025 | Full call for papers and details here
• Ernesto Priego is online at ernestopriego.com
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Comics Education News, Comics Studies, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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