As part of my final year thesis, I wanted to explore how AI can be intergrated into the comic creation process. Do investigate this, I created an webtool called ComicPal using Reactjs, Nodejs and OpenAI's API. Comic creators then used this tool in their workflow and I gathered data on how their expreinces and thoughts.
Link: TBA
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been steadily increasing across many industries, including the comic book industry. While there have been numerous studies exploring people’s perceptions of AI and AI-based creativity support tools(AI-CSTs), there has been a lack of studies on how AI can be integrated into the comic creation process and how comic creators interact with such tools. This is unfortunate because comic books are a unique graphic art form that combines both illustration and text, making them an ideal medium to leverage AI to potentially enhance the creative process. To address this, in this project I developed ComicPal, an AI-assisted creativity support tool designed to facilitate the creation of comic books, then recruited creators to use the tool and discuss their experiences. The system was evaluated with questionnaires and a focus group to determine its usability and effectiveness. Thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative data collected during the studies to identify patterns in the interaction dynamics between creators and AI. From my findings, I found that AI can be a valuable tool for ideation and inspiration, especially when facing creativity blocks or gaps. However, creators’ attitudes towards AI assistance varied depending on their current values and motivations, which were influenced by factors such as the task they were performing or their personal feelings towards their project and skills. Additionally, although most creators appreciated the benefits of AI, they all had reservations rooted in personal or anecdotal negative experiences. The results of this project was then used to discuss potential design considerations for future development of AI-CSTs for comic creation. Along with suggestions for further work to explore potential research areas and possible enhancements for ComicPal to support collaborative creation.