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The estate of George Carlin is suing “Dudesy”, the podcast behind the recent A.I.-generated version of the legendary comedian.
On January 9, the Dudesy YouTube channel posted an hourlong stand-up comedy special titled George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead, which used “generative artificial intelligence to mimic the deceased comedian’s voice and style of humor,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The podcast is hosted by Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, who have been named in the lawsuit.
“We have to draw a line in the sand. This is going to be a fight on every front, with entertainment at the center,” Carlin’s daughter Kelly told THR.
“At the start of the video, it’s explained that the AI program that created the special ingested five decades of Carlin’s original stand-up routines, which are owned by the comedian’s estate, as training materials, ‘thereby making unauthorized copies’ of the copyrighted works.”
The video sees an A.I. rendering of Carlin — who died of heart failure 16 years ago — discussing topics such as “mass shootings, the American class system, streaming services, social media, and AI itself.”
At this time, there are no federal laws in the United States that protect against the use of someone’s voice or likeness.
“My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain, and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius. These AI-generated products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind that will never exist again,” Carlin’s daughter tweeted at the time of its release.
The report of Carlin’s estate suing over A.I.-created content comes just days after it was reported that Taylor Swift was considering taking legal action over graphic A.I. images of her that are circulating on social media.
Carlin is widely considered to be one of the greatest stand-up comedians to ever live, with many of his ideas remaining relevant if not prescient long after his death in 2008.