AI-generated George Carlin skit spurs daughter’s warning

While some might assume the special consists of highlights from Carlin’s long and illustrious career, it is instead an impersonation generated by something he never had to contend with: artificial intelligence. And it has Carlin’s daughter and many of his fans seething. 

The special comes from Dudesy, a self-described “comedy AI” that purportedly directs an eponymous podcast and YouTube show with podcaster Chad Kultgen and Canadian actor and Mad TV alum Will Sasso. 

“It really is, to our knowledge, the first podcast that is created by, controlled by and written by, to some degree, an artificial intelligence,” Kultgen told Business in Vancouver earlier this year, while declining to disclose which company programmed Dudesy. “It’s trying to delve into the question of: Can AIs be creative? Can they do comedy work? Can they do creative work? And I think, at least on our show, the answer is obviously yes.”

Plenty of Carlin fans beg to differ. His daughter, Kelly Carlin, quickly condemned the special, writing on X on Wednesday: 

“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…if you want to listen to the genuine George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere.”

In the video, Dudesy is explicit that the special isn’t the real thing: “I just want to let you know very clearly that what you’re about to hear is not George Carlin,” it says. “It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would. I listened to all…