Break The Pencil

Submission 12,878

Part of a series on AI Art. [View Related Entries]

Putty ✔ @SupaPuttyYT #breakthepencil How about instead I break this computer, so no ai images can be made On the subject of destroying tech, have you guys ever seen the printer scene from the movie Office Space? (or the Family Guy joke ripping off the scene) Call that scene inspiration 9:45 PM - Apr 3, 2024 - 4,218 Views 3

MegaChan 00 @MegaChanRevival • Apr 3, 2024 ... : 100 likes and I'll draw these two making out. NOT Mario Comes To The Real World @DeezNuts_LMAO2 · Mar 31 nice try "artist" but ai is the future of art, no human can compare to it. and if you say something like "ooohhh but but look fingers look wrong" just remember, ai is trained off the best artists and improves more in a day then you "real artists" could in your whole lives x.com...

stop breaking pencils Ai is THE FUTURE Ai♡

Karuu URGENT COMMISSIONS OPEN! @karoryuu WHY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO USE AI TREATING THE WORD PENCIL AS A SLUR LMAO funnles @funnless Follow you know what? i am tired of the ai hate! we should all unite against the p*ncil users and start loving ai more! who's with me? #ai #aibros #nft #crypto #SpongeBob 9:20 PM Apr 3, 2024 779K Views D

Chris @KrisSkulls Al artists click this! [SAFE] Content warning: Sensitive content The post author flagged this post as showing sensitive content. 9:05 PM Mar 30, 2024 5.8M Views Show

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About

Break The Pencil or #BreakThePencil is a mock movement that was popularized on X / Twitter in March and April 2024, with creators sharing AI-generated artwork showing different characters symbolically breaking pencils as a means to signal the end of analog or human-made art. While it is unclear if the movement began with sincerity, it gained virality due to AI images being shared and mocked by artists online.

Origin

On March 30th, 2024, X^[1] user @KrisSkulls posted an image of a pencil, covered with a sensitive content warning. The image was captioned, "AI artists click this! [SAFE]" and gathered over 130,000 likes in five days (seen below).

Chris @KrisSkulls Al artists click this! [SAFE] 9:05 PM Mar 30, 2024 · 5.8M Views Hide

On March 31st, X^[2] user @DeezNuts_LMAO2 quoted the aforementioned post to share an AI-generated image of a robot snapping a pencil in half. The post gathered over 1,000 likes in five days and is likely the origin of the "Break The Pencil" trend. As per the replies to the post, @DeezNuts_LMAO2 appears to satirizing AI art creators.

حان الله UNTER NOT Mario Comes To The Real World @DeezNuts_LMAO2 nice try "artist" but ai is the future of art, no human can compare to it. and if you say something like "ooohhh but but look fingers look wrong" just remember, ai is trained off the best artists and improves more in a day then you "real artists" could in your whole lives Chris @KrisSkulls • Mar 30 Al artists click this! [SAFE] pic.twitter.com/kKpt7vftDt 9:17 AM ⚫ Mar 31, 2024 6.6M Views

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On April 3rd, 2024, X^[3] user @funnless posted AI-generated art showing SpongeBob snapping a pencil in half. The caption joked, "you know what? I am tired of the ai hate! we should all unite against the p*ncil users and start loving ai more! who's with me? #ai #aibros #nft #crypto #SpongeBob." The post was quoted by X^[4] user @karoryuu in a now-deleted tweet that read, "WHY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO USE AI TREATING THE WORD PENCIL AS A SLUR LMAO." The post gathered over 35,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).

funnles @funnless you know what? i am tired of the ai hate! we should all unite against the p*ncil users and start loving ai more! who's with me? #ai #aibros #nft #crypto #SpongeBob 3:36 PM Apr 3, 2024 305.6K Views D

Also on April 3rd, X^[5] user @SpeedyDingaling posted AI showing a cartoonish iShowSpeed breaking a pencil and giving us a thumbs up. The caption read, "We AI Artists have to stick together, so I’m starting a new hashtag #BreakThePencil! AI generate some beautiful artwork of your favourite characters breaking a pencil to say screw you to the gatekeeping “artists” on this platform!"

The post was then quoted by X^[6] user @VivaDaRevo, who shared a meme on April 4th, 2024, featuring a shirtless PewDiePie telling an AI enthusiast to stop breaking pencils, a reference to the creator's newfound passion for art (seen below, right).