A new comedy special starts with the quote, “I’m sorry it took me so long to come out with new material, but I do have a pretty good excuse. I was dead.”

The voice sounds like comedian George Carlin, but that would be impossible, as Carlin died in 2008. The voice in the special is actually generated by an artificial intelligence (AI).

“This is not my father. It’s so ghoulish. It’s so creepy,” Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin-McCall, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

The YouTube account Dudesy, which is described as a podcast, artificial intelligence and “first of its kind media experiment,” released the hour-long special on Jan. 9. CBC reached out to the producers of Dudesy and its co-host Will Sasso for comment, but did not get a response.

Sasso and co-host Chad Kultgen say they can’t reveal the company behind the AI due to a non-disclosure agreement, according to Vice. The channel launched in March 2022.

Carlin-McCall said the channel never reached out to the family or asked for permission to use her father’s likeness. She says her father took great pride in the thought and effort he put into writing his material.

  • PugJesus
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    1011 months ago

    We really need stronger restrictions on AI usage.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      Only for corporate use. Leave the people doing fun non profit parody things alone. Its the people doing this…or stealing someones likenesses to sell a product that need to be regulated

    • ThankYouVeryMuch
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      211 months ago

      We need but not for this, I would prefer restricting governments and corporations from using it to spy on people.

    • @[email protected]
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      -111 months ago

      The conversation shouldn’t be about restrictions as much as it should be about compensation. AI “art” like this only exists by ripping off original artists.

          • queermunist she/her
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            211 months ago

            Cynicism.

            Corporations are creations of government. They can be brought under government control.

            Might need a new government though lol

        • Magical Thinker
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          111 months ago

          Which government? Where I live that’s still a synonym for corporation.

            • PugJesus
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              111 months ago

              Ah, yes, the CCP. Don’t you have Uyghur genocide to apologize for or something, tankie?

              • queermunist she/her
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                11 months ago

                Compare Xinjiang province with Gaza if you want to see how fucking stupid the genocide claims against China are, and yet the same countries are defending Israel as it commits open genocide before our eyes. The lies are so fucking obvious at this point, do you not have any shame?

                Also, CPC you fucking dork. Communist Party of China. CCP is redscare bullshit meant to make people think of the CCCP lol

                • PugJesus
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                  211 months ago

                  Did you know more than one genocide can be happening at once in the world? Surprising, I know!

                  Fucking tankies. Operating literally on a child’s understanding of the world.

                  • queermunist she/her
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                    11 months ago

                    There’s a reason none of China’s accusers are trying to take them to the International Court of Justice.

                    And those same accusers, again, are defending Israel as it commits genocide. Why do you think that is?

        • ThankYouVeryMuch
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          -111 months ago

          But it’s the governments the ones using AI for the most evil things. Impersonating a dead comedian is a pretty benign use in my opinion.