George Carlin’s estate settles lawsuit against the podcaster’s artificial intelligence comedy show

There will be no follow-up to George Carlin’s AI-generated comedy special released by the Dudesy podcast. In January, Carlin’s estate filed a lawsuit against the podcast and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, accusing them of violating the artist’s right of publicity and copyright infringement. Now, the two sides have reached a settlement agreement that includes the permanent removal of the comic special from Dudesy’s archives. Sasso and Kultgen also agreed not to republish it on any platform and not to use Carlin’s image, voice or likeness again without the consent of the estate, according to the Verge website. New York times.

The AI ​​algorithm Dudesy used in the special was trained on thousands of hours of Carlin’s procedures spanning decades of his career. He produced enough material for an hour-long special, but left a very poor impression of the late comedian in basic terms and very little of what characterized Carlin’s sense of humor. In a statement, Carlin’s daughter, Kelly, called it a “poorly executed replica put together by unscrupulous individuals.”

Josh Schiller, who represented Carlin’s family in court, told the Times:[t]The world is beginning to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in artificial intelligence tools, which can imitate voices, create fake photos and alter videos. They face swift and forceful action in the courts.” Companies that make AI software “must also bear some degree of accountability,” the lawyer said.

This lawsuit is just one of many lawsuits filed by creators against AI companies and people who use the technology by training algorithms on someone’s work. Several nonfiction authors and novelists, including George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jodi Picoult, have sued OpenAI for using their work to train its large language models. New York times A few other news organizations have also sued the company for using its articles for training and for allegedly reproducing their content word for word without attribution.