How We Turn WhatsApp Chats Into Illustrated Comics (And Why It's Harder Than It Sounds)

How We Turn WhatsApp Chats Into Illustrated Comics (And Why It's Harder Than It Sounds) When people hear "upload your WhatsApp chat, get a comic back", they usually imagine something like a simple screenshot with speech bubbles slapped on top. The reality of what Chat Comics actually does is considerably weirder — and, we think, considerably more interesting. This is a behind-the-scenes look at how Chat Comics works: the AI pipeline, the design decisions, the rabbit holes we fell down, and the bits that still surprise us. The Problem: A Chat Export Is Just a Text File A WhatsApp chat export looks like this: 01/03/2025, 14:22 - Jamie: did anyone watch that documentary last night 01/03/2025, 14:23 - Sarah: which one 01/03/2025, 14:23 - Jamie: the one about the guy who thought he was a dog 01/03/2025, 14:24 - Marcus: 💀💀💀 01/03/2025, 14:25 - Sarah: JAMIE WHY ARE YOU WATCHING THAT 01/03/2025, 14:31 - Jamie: it was on recommended ok That's it. Timestamps, names, raw text, the occasional e