AI impersonates late comedian George Carlin, daughter furious

Dudesy, the self-proclaimed “comedy-AI,” has released a special called “George Carlin Resurrected,” and people aren’t too happy about it.

The AI comedy podcast Dudesy, hosted by Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, has brought George Carlin back from the dead in an hour-long comedy special.

Dudesy explicitly states that the “comedy” you will hear is an AI impersonation of the late Carlin.

The AI claims that this Carlin impersonation is “developed in the same way human impressionists would.”

“I’ve listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence, and attitude, as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today,” the AI said in its introduction.

“Think of it like Andy Kaufman impersonating Elvis or Will Ferrel impersonating George W. Bush.”

There is no semblance of anything remotely human in this comedy set, from the AI-generated voice of Carlin to the fake laugh track that plays in the background.

So it’s difficult to think of the hour-long set as anything other than AI mimicking Carlin – without permission.

It’s fair to say that people aren’t happy with Carlin’s resurrection, particularly the late comedian’s family, as the creators of Dudesy did not obtain consent to impersonate the comedian’s voice, said The Register.

The two creators were granted “zero permission” to train their AI Dudesy on Carlin’s work, according to Kelly Carlin, George Carlin’s daughter.

“My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his human life, brain, and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius,” Kelly wrote in a recent post on X.

Carlin’s daughter expressed her thanks and support for those opposing the AI “that has arrogantly stepped over a line in the world of comedy.”