George Carlin's Estate Sues Over AI Comedy Recreation

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Facts

• The estate of the late comedian George Carlin on Thursday filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles federal court against the media company that used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a comedy special mimicking Carlin's style and delivery.¹
• The lawsuit centers around an hour-long audio “comedy special” called “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” which was created by the Dudesy media company and uploaded to its YouTube channel. The estate claims the video was a copyright infringement and a violation of Carlin’s right to publicity.²
• The duo behind the Dudesy podcast, Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, are the primary defendants in the case. They have claimed AI is “the next paintbrush,” defending their use of the technology as a “new tool that's going to be utilized in every facet of life.”³
• The disputed work was posted on Jan. 9 and starts with a voice identifying itself as Dudesy’s AI engine. It goes on to say that it listened to 50 years of Carlin's material and did its “best to imitate his voice, cadence, and attitude.”⁴
• The video has more than 500K views on YouTube and remains on the platform. The lawsuit calls for the immediate removal of the video and an undisclosed amount of damages.⁵

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²NBC, ³Verge, ⁴CBS and ⁵Forbes.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Los Angeles Times. This AI production is a slap in the face to the iconic comedian and an example of the problems AI is causing for humanity. Right now, most AI-generated content is poor quality and can be identified as AI fairly easily. However, as the technology improves, it will be more difficult to differentiate it from humans. AI of this sort might be more trouble than it's worth.
• Narrative B, as provided by Ars Technica. The backlash to this special shows people don't understand how AI works. AI might be labeled 'artificial,' but it's made through the use of human input. People should think of the AI as an impressionist paying homage to the late, great comic, not as some sort of danger to humanity.

Predictions