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On the Internet, does anyone know if you’re a dog?

Answer: Not according to an iconic web cartoon.

A person sitting at a table with one hand on a laptop on the table. In their lap is a brown and white dog resting it's head on the laptop keyboard and looking at the screen.
Perhaps nothing encapsulates the spirit of the Internet better than the iconic 1993 Cyberdog comic in The New Yorker. The drawing features two dogs, one seated at a desk in front of a computer and the other standing on the floor looking up at the former. The caption reads, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

When cartoonist Peter Steiner originally put the comic together, he had no idea just how relevant it would become.

“I’d love to be able to say I saw this coming, but I didn’t,” he said. “But with every new turn it just became more relevant. Now we’re looking at artificial intelligence. AI is like the ultimate Internet dog.”

Thirty years after it was published in The New Yorker, the cartoon is one of the most-shared in the publication’s archive. The original drawing was slated to go up for auction at the Heritage Auctions October 6th Illustration Art Auction on Friday. It is expected to sell for up to $50,000.