(TNS) — A new comedy special featuring George Carlin has just dropped on YouTube.
And if you’re wondering how that’s possible since the comedian died in 2008, you’re not alone.
“George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” is the work of an AI bot called Dudesy, who starts the video by letting you know the special is him “impersonating” Carlin.
“For the next hour I’ll be doing my best George Carlin impersonation just like a human being would,” the caption to the video reads. “I tried to capture his iconic style to tackle the topics I think the comedy legend would be talking about today.”
According to Forbes, Dudesy was created by former “Mad TV” alum Will Sasso and novelist Chad Kultgen, which they’ve described as a media experiment. This is the second AI video they’ve made. The first featured Tom Brady joking about football and dating apps after his marriage to Giselle Bündchen ended. Brady did not respond warmly to that video.
And neither has Carlin’s daughter, Kelly Carlin, who recently took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to make her feelings on this latest AI video known.
“My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain and imagination,” she wrote. “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,” she continued. “Let’s let the artist’s work speak for itself. Humans are so afraid of the void that we can’t let what has fallen into it stay there.”
In a follow-up tweet, she emphatically noted that the Carlin family had not given any permission to have his likeness used in such a manner.
She also later tagged Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams, Melissa Rivers, daughter of Joan Rivers, and the estate of Garry Shandling, warning that “they’re coming for you next.”
Carlin also encouraged supporters to let their feelings be known by posting comments on the video’s YouTube page, “and also let the podcasters that collaborate w/ this AI bot know how you feel.”
If nothing else, she reminded fans, “if you want to listen to the genuine George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere.”
