‘This is fine’ creator says AI startup stole his art

You’ve seen this comic before: An anthropomorphic dog sits smiling, surrounded by flames, and says, “This is fine.”

It has become one of them the most enduring memes of the past decade, and now AI startup Traditional seems to have included it in an ad campaign – an ad for what KC Greenthe artist who created the comic said his art was stolen.

A Bluesky post appears to show an ad in a subway station with Green’s art, except the dog says, “[M]The pipeline is on fire,” and an overlapping message urges passersby to “Hire Ava the AI ​​BDR.”

By quoting that message, said Green he “gets more and more people telling me about this” and that “it’s nothing [I] agreed.” Instead, he said the ad was “stolen like AI steals,” and told his followers to “please trash the ad if and when you see it.”

When TechCrunch emailed Artisan with questions about the ad, the company said, “We have great respect for KC Green and his work, and we are reaching out to him directly.” In a follow-up email, the company said it had scheduled a time to speak with him.

Artisan has caused controversy before with its advertisements, most notably with billboards calling on companies to “stop hiring people” – although founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack insisted the message was about ‘a category of work’, not ‘people in general’.

“This Is Fine” first appeared in Green’s webcomic “Weapon Show” in 2013, and while he hasn’t completely disavowed the smiling-melting dog (he recently turned the comic strip into a game), it’s clear escaped his control. And of course, Green is far from the only artist to see his meme art used in ways he finds objectionable.

But some artists have still taken action when their art is monetized or used commercially without their consent, such as when cartoonist Matt Furie sued right-wing conspiracy theory site Infowars for using his character Pepe the Frog in a poster. (Furie and Infowars eventually settled.)

Green told TechCrunch via email that he “will look into it [legal] representation, as I feel I need to do.” Still, he said it “takes the wind out of my sails” that he has to “take time out of my life to try out the American justice system, instead of returning it to what I’m passionate about, which is drawing comics and stories.”

Green added: “These thoughtless AI losers are not untouchable and memes just don’t come out of the blue.”