Billable Bytes: An AI Generated Comic Strip

February means it’s time for my semi-annual check-in on the state of humor in Artificial Intelligence.

This time I tried something a little different — I had AI create a weekly comic strip featuring a lawyer, his dog and his AI.

I used ChatGPT to write the strips, then turned to Grok to draw them. Why Grok for the art? Because surely Elon Musk has some sense of humor.

Here’s the prompt I used: Create seven four-panel comic strips featuring a lawyer, his talking dog, and an AI. The strips should follow an overarching story arc across all seven, but each one should stand on its own as a self-contained gag. The humor should lean closer to Luann than Garfield.

ChatGPT’s reaction:

Love this concept. Slightly awkward, character-driven, warm humor with a continuing arc. Think gentle chaos, not sarcasm.

Recurring characters:

Evan – earnest, slightly frazzled lawyer
Baxter – his talking dog (supportive but dramatic)
AIDA – his overly literal AI legal assistant

Story arc: Evan enters a “Future of Law Innovation Pitch Night” at his firm. He builds an AI demo with Baxter’s “help.” Things spiral… but land sweetly.

And this is how Grok took ChatGPT’s bare bones concept and expanded it to create the strips:

Create a clean newspaper-style 4-panel comic strip titled “Billable Bytes.” Art style:

Warm, character-driven humor
Soft expressive line art
Flat pastel colors
Minimal backgrounds (law office, conference room, kitchen)
Classic 4 equal horizontal panels
Clear bold comic lettering
Consistent character design across all panels

Characters (must remain visually identical in every strip):

EVAN: Mid-30s male lawyer, brown slightly messy hair, expressive eyebrows, navy suit, white shirt, slightly loosened tie, sleeves sometimes rolled up. Earnest, anxious but likable.
BAXTER: Medium-sized golden dog, warm golden fur, intelligent eyes, sits upright when talking, natural dog anatomy (no clothes), subtle expressive eyebrows.
AIDA: AI assistant shown only on laptop screen or wall projection.

Minimalist blue-and-white interface, clean sans-serif text, simple analytics graphics. No human face. Tone: Light workplace humor, slightly awkward, warm, gentle — similar to Luann comic tone. Not cynical, not sarcastic.

The result:

Funny? Well, I’d say pleasant but not exactly humorous. (And what the heck is going on with comic strip animals and lasagna?) I don’t think I’ll wait for King Features Syndicate to call.