PIXELS OF YOU

Biased AI, creativity, and the line between human and machine collide—and sparks fly.

In a near-future New York City, at a time when artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous, powering self-driving cars and more, Indira and Fawn are unpaid interns perfecting their photography skills. But there’s one major difference between the two: Fawn is AI, while Indira is human. Indira is taciturn with Fawn until their boss, noticing the animosity between them, declares that they must work together to create a joint photography exhibition. Forced to spend time together, Fawn and Indira begin to learn more about each other and the ways in which both human and AI society don’t always allow them to fit in—Indira because she is Indian American and Fawn because of her outward appearance as a young White woman. Drawn in a manga style, the story follows Indira and Fawn as they explore the city, alternating between light banter and discussing heavier topics. Ultimately a short but sweet story about two girls slowly falling in love, there are enough details here to raise interesting questions about human-made algorithms and bias coded into artificial intelligence but not enough to fully flesh out the world. The art, however, is striking, with bold, stark colors; plays on light and dark; and disrupted frames depicting photos and extending emotional moments.

The feelings of a Sapphic short story plus questions about the darker aspects of technology.