'George Carlin' Comedy Special Created by AI, Overwhelmed by Comedian's Daughter

An AI-driven comedy special sought to revive the signature humor of comedic genius George Carlin, 15 years after he died in 2008 of heart failure. After the special aired, the comedian's daughter responded and said that “No machine will ever replace his genius.”

The hourly special, titled George Carlin: I'm glad to be dead, is a product of Dudesy, an AI-run and human-curated podcast. Chad Kultgen and Will Sasso host the podcast and YouTube show and let Dudesy AI design from their emails, texts, social media accounts, and even their own work — from Sasso's appearances on MadTV to an old feature script written by Kultgen titled, Pizza: The Movim.

While details about the company behind Dudesy's AI system are unclear — Sasso denied that the AI ​​is fake in an interview with Business Intelligence and claimed an NDA prevented him from disclosing the legal entity – the impression created by Carlin is strange.

The special begins with an explainer, with Dudesy clarifying that “what you're about to hear is not George Carlin,” with the AI ​​adding that to nail the comedian's style, he “listened to all of George Carlin's stuff and put my best to imitate his voice, rhythm and attitude as well as the topic that I think he would be interested in today.' The result: an eerie revival of the legendary comic.

AI-powered 'Carlin' tackles some of today's biggest issues, from mass shootings to social media. At one point, Dudesy/Carlin takes over the AI ​​itself. “There is one line of work that is most threatened by AI – one that is most likely to be completely wiped out by AI: stand-up comedy,” quips AI-Carlin. “I know what all the stand-up comics around the world are saying right now: 'I'm an artist and my art form is too creative, too delicate, too delicate to be reproduced by a machine. No computer program can tell as good a joke as I can.”

After the video was posted on YouTube, the comic's daughter, Kelly Carlin, took to X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday afternoon to respond. “My statement about artificial intelligence made George Carlin special: My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his art from the very human life, brain, and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius. These AI-created products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind that will never exist again,” Kelly wrote. “Let the artist's work speak for itself. People are so afraid of the void that we cannot let what has fallen into it remain there.'

He continued, “Here's an idea, how about we give some real live comedians a listen? But if you want to hear the real George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere.”