Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Cartoon about the threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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AI cartoon artificial intelligence doomer
artificial intelligence AI cartoon

AI cartoon (Artificial intelligence).

A cartoon about AI, or artificial intelligence. The cartoon shows concern for the fact that it may be impossible to programme safeguards into AI systems, as the AI system will become intelligent enough to find a loophole to overcome the programmed safeguards.
Concern about AI has existed ever since the conncept of AI was thought of – now that AI is becoming a practical possibility the concern is becoming more widely held. People who believe that AI is an existential threat to humanity are sometimes called doomers.

Drawn: 3rd April 2023
Cartoon reference number: a947

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The threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI): cartoon

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AI artificial intelligence cartoon
AI artificial intelligence cartoon

Artificial intelligence cartoon.

A cartoon about the possible dangers of AI, or artificial intelligence. The cartoon is based on the computer cliché that to fix a computer you need to turn it off and turn it on again. The cartoon coveys the message that AI may become so clever that it can thwart our attempts to control it. People who believe that AI is an existential threat to humanity are sometimes called doomers.

Drawn: 3rd April 2023
First published: Private Eye, issue 1596, April 2023
Cartoon reference number: a946

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Obsessive photo taking and selfie cartoon

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obsessive photo and selfie taking cartoon

Cartoon about obsessive photo and selfie taking

This cartoon is a comment on the culture of constantly taking photographs and selfies, especially when on holiday or vacation.
The photos are taken as a way to record the event, but in fact they often get in the way of the event, stopping the person engaging with it in a meaningful way.
The concept behind the cartoon is that the obsessive taking of photos actually hinders the experience.
A cartoon about holidays, vacations, experiences, photography, selfies, Instagram generation, social media, smartphones, engaging.

Drawn: June 2020
Cartoon reference: a810
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Salvador Dali surreal lobster telephone cartoon

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Salvador Dali surreal lobster telephone cartoon

Surrealism cartoon – Salvador Dali lobster telephone and shrimp cell phone

Cartoon showing Salvador Dali’s surrealist telephone, along with a mobile phone that he may have imagined if they had existed then.

Original cartoon drawn: 2010
This version drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art013
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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The etiquette of using a mobile phone in an art gallery

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The etiquette of using a cell phone in an art gallery cartoon

A cartoon about the etiquette of using a cell phone in an art gallery.

The cartoon shows a visitor to an art gallery talking on a mobile phone in the gallery.

The cartoon is about the tensions that can occur in public spaces concerning the inconsiderate use of mobile phones, especially if the user speaks in a load voice and seems oblivious to their surroundings.
Art galleries are usually quiet spaces (although there are some schools of thought that think that they should be more lively (and therefore more accessible to people who feel intimidated by the reverence normally afforded to art).
The other visitors to the gallery are looking very disapproving.

Cartoon drawn: 2019

Cartoon reference number: art015
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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Cartoon – contemporary art aimed at the selfie taking Instagram generation

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Instagram-friendly art cartoon

Art aimed at the Instagram generation.

The cartoon shows artworks in an art gallery in which the works are in the form of speech bubbles with quotes in them.
The quotes are clichés poking fun at modern art and contemporary art: But is it art? and A child of six could do it!
Gallery visitors pose beneath the quotes and have selfies or photos taken of themselves.

Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art056
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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Social media in contemporary art cartoon

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contemporary art cartoon emoji

Digital language enters contemporary art.

The cartoon shows a contemporary art painting that resembles a social media emoji.
The fact that the visitors to the art gallery think that the painting is capturing emotion and is expressing emotion is partly meant to show the emotional banality and superficiality of a lot of social media.

Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art048
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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Cell phone dependency (or mobile phone dependency) cartoon

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Cartoon - cell phone dependency

Dependency on mobile phones – cartoon.

People are beginning to rely to an excessive extent on their mobile phone (cell phone) and on digital electronic technology.
This cartoon illustrates this by depicting tourists who are using the sat-nav function of their mobile phones to navigate to a hotel. The gps has stopped working and they don’t know how to find the hotel, even though it’s plainly in full view.

Cartoon reference number: a758

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The “post truth” society

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Cartoon about ignoring the truth in favour of prejudice

Post truth cartoon or conspiracy theory cartoon.

Truth and facts being ignored in favour of emotional or prejudiced viewpoints.

The concept of ignoring the facts when reaching a decision about something, and letting the heart rather than the head rule, seems to be a phenomenon that’s on the rise. It has recently been labelled ‘post truth’.
In the cartoon I’ve linked it to the phenomenon of conspiracy theories, which are frequently used as a way of justifying irrational or unproven ideas.
The rise of post truth tendencies is said to be linked to people’s increasing use of social media via phones and electronic media and the tendency for internet algorithms to send people only information that they already agree with – however the tendency has always been there in the way that people purchase newspapers that agree with their political and other views.
It may also be linked to the current mistrust of experts.
Cartoon reference number: a756

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How social media confirms your prejudiced – creating a ‘phoney’ world view

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phone filter bubble algorithm

How social media in phones filter information – giving the user a ‘phoney’ (or phony) world view

How social media etc via phones and other digital devices reinforce prejudices by filtering information so that the user only sees information that conforms to the user’s existing biases.

The ‘filter bubble’ of social media and other digital technology is similar to the ‘culture bubble’ of real-world travel and peer group opinions and attitudes.
Cartoon reference number: a745

The phone filter bubble effect – creating a ‘phoney’ world view

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filter bubble computer algorithm

How algorithms in phones filter information, thus giving the user a ‘phoney’ (or phony) world view

How the use of phones and other digital devices reinforce prejudices by filtering information so that the user tends to see only information that conforms to the user’s biases.

The ‘filter bubble’ of social media and other digital technology is similar to the ‘culture bubble’ in which travellers and tourists surround themselves with their own culture when abroad.
Cartoon reference number: a744

People immersed in their smart phones unaware of events in the real world

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people engrossed in their smart phones unaware of events in the real world

A problem of immersive technology – smart phone users oblivious to events round them

This cartoon is about the way that the use of smart phones encourages people to withdraw from the real world and to become totally immersed in their phones.

 

In the cartoon the two young people in the foreground are completely unaware that the city behind them is being destroyed by an alien invasion by flying saucers or ufos (and that this is the reason that their phones have lost their signal). The only thing that they notice is that the signal to their phones has gone.
The cartoon is an illustration of the potential dangers of immersive technology.
First published: Prospect magazine, April 2016.
Cartoon reference number: a729

To record or to intervene? The public filming of incidents for social media

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Cartoon - public filming disasters on phones

A cartoon about the tendency for people to record incidents rather than to intervene in them.

A cartoon showing people who are dismayed by the fact that there’s a man drowning in front of them, but that they haven’t got their phones with them with which to record the event.

A cartoon about a dark side to social media and “citizen journalism”.
Cartoon reference number: a708

From stone age to phone age

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Stone age man/phone age man cartoon

A joke about the evolution of technology

A stone age man using stones and a modern man using a phone

Part of the humor behind the cartoon is that people haven’t changed much, despite the advanced of technology
Cartoon drawn: 2013
Cartoon reference number: a651

Cartoon of a person watching reality tv – infinite regression image

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reality tv cartoon - infinite regression of image in tv screen

Reality tv cartoon – showing a person watching reality tv watching a person watching reality tv – an infinite regression image

A cartoon about television reflecting life: about the way that people’s lives are seemlessly integrated with technology – to the point where people only exist in relation to technology

An illustration of people doing nothing but watching reality television, for whom nothing exists beyond the tv screen, the computer screen or the phone screen.
Cartoon created: 2011
Cartoon reference number: a608

Snooper drones cartoon

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private snooper drones

Personal spy drone cartoon
The use of drones for private detective work

 

This cartoon was drawn when drones were first being developed but were not generally in the public’s awareness. A cartoon about one of the implications of the spread of drone technology in the future if drones become available to the public as personal drones or as civilian surveillance drones in general

The drone in the image is being used by a husband to spy on his wife
Advances in drone technology have implications for civil liberties, with the possibility of a Big Brother society
Click below for another cartoon about the possible use of personal drones Snooper drones
Cartoon drawn: 2013
Cartoon reference number: a606

Personal snooper drone cartoon – drones used for stalking

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personal drone used for stalking - cartoon

Personal spy drone cartoon
An idea about the implications of drone technology
The use of drones for stalking

This cartoon was drawn in the early days of drone development, before they were were generally available for use by the public.
A cartoon about one of the numerous possible misuses of drone technology in the future if drones become available to the public as personal drones.

The drone in the image is being used by a stalker to stalk a woman.

Click below for another cartoon about the possible use of personal drones Snooper drones

Cartoon drawn: 2013
Cartoon reference number: a605

Illustration – people using mobile devices oblivious to their surroundings

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spring blossom ignored by phone users - cartoon

An illustration about the tunnel vision of cell phone users
People using mobile devices being oblivious to what’s around them

A cartoon showing people using mobile phones or other portable electronic devices, totally ignoring the world around them

The cartoon shows a spring blossom tree in full bloom, with people staring at their phones instead of at the tree.

This is a variation on the idea that mobile phone users bump into people and objects because they aren’t watching where they are going, as they are too engrossed in their phones

First published in Private Eye magazine
Date drawn: 2006
Cartoon reference number: a592

Sat nav (GPS) error – car directed to the wrong destination.

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sat nav to Saturn's rings - cartoon

Sat nav (GPS) error cartoon – a car directed to the wrong destination by the sat-nav.
A car driving round the rings of Saturn as though they were a ring road

A cartoon about the way that people will follow their sat navs to the wrong destinations

The caption reads: I’ve got a feeling that the sat-nav’s taking us along the wrong ring road.
Cartoon reference number: a522

Sat-nav error cartoon. Guided to the wrong destination

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sat-nav error to M31 - cartoon

Sat-nav cartoon – a car guided by sat-nav taken to the wrong destination

The sat nav (GPS) has guided to car to the wrong M31 (the Andromeda galaxy instead of the M31 motorway).

The M31 motorway doesn’t actually exist by the way – it was planned but never completed.
The cartoon is about the way that car drivers will blindly and slavishly follow the instructions of their sat-navs even when they are completely wrong, sometimes going to the wrong destination of the same name
It says something about the way that the human race can follow the wrong path without realising the potential consequences
This is an astronomy cartoon

Cartoon reference number: a496

Drowning in digital technology – cartoon

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drowning in immersive technology cartoon

A cartoon about drowning in the overwhelming tide of progress in modern digital technology which makes it hard to keep up and sometimes gives a sense of powerlessness or impotence.
It can also be seen as a cartoon about drowning in immersive technology, where the digital world ‘becomes’ real and overwhelms the user in a different way.

A cartoon about virtual reality, the digital-physical interface, electronic worlds, technological overload, information overload

Immersive technology is digital or electronic technology that affects the senses to such an extent that it is hard to define the line between the real physical world and the artificial digital or simulated world, creating a sense of immersion
Cartoon reference number: a431
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