this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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some AI jackasses decided to reanimate George Carlin’s corpse and make it say embarrassing shit (www.usatoday.com)
submitted 11 months ago by self@awful.systems to c/techtakes@awful.systems
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remember, regardless of how outspoken you are in life, nothing will stop the capitalists from reanimating your defiled corpse into a shitheaded centrist zombie if there’s a buck in it:

“I'd just like to say that as much as I think billionaires are destroying the fabric of society with unchecked greed and blatant self-interest at the expense of basic human rights for everyone else, it is a little strange to me that people get mad at them. People are the ones who gave them the money in the first place," the AI Carlin said.

(editor’s note: the above is supposed to be a joke from the comedy special these fucking assholes hijacked Carlin’s corpse to promote. I can’t find the punchline, but it’s supposed to be a joke)

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[–] dgerard@awful.systems 45 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This is being done against the wishes of Carlin's family. Kelly Carlin https://twitter.com/kelly_carlin/status/1745261544001466689

My statement regarding the AI generated George Carlin special: My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius. These AI generated products are clever attempts at trying to recreate a mind…1/3

…that will never exist again. 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. 2/3

Here’s an idea, how about we give some actual living human comedians a listen to? But if you want to listen to the genuine George Carlin, he has 14 specials that you can find anywhere. 3/3

I’m worried about his legacy. His reputation. His art. I’m allowed to do that as his daughter and while I’m alive. It’s important that these corporations don’t rape & pillage art. Don’t assume you understand who I am and what values I live by.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Nothing is sacred to anyone who is willing to consume or make this kinda thing. 100% of showcases of AI capability are just AIs copying something humans do. Sometimes it’s chess. Other times it’s copying Monet, of Van Gogh, or in this case, Carlin.

This is exactly the kind of thing that the WGA was striking against and what big media corporations want to have happen. As shown by some of the comments in this thread there are people that are absolutely fine with facsimile as art. It’s all bad and I hate it. I especially hate how nostalgia for the classics is gonna drive this.

[–] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 43 points 11 months ago

Fuck absolutely everyone and everything about this. If you had anything to do with this, shame on you.

[–] Amoeba_Girl@awful.systems 28 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Dudesy is an AI comedy platform

a what

[–] Amoeba_Girl@awful.systems 18 points 11 months ago

As far as I can tell this is just a vaguely scammy-looking youtube page who've managed to get puff pieces written about them? Dire.

[–] pikesley@mastodon.me.uk 10 points 11 months ago

@Amoeba_Girl @self two years ago it would have been an NFT Comedy Platform, I guess

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I got the story on this from a friend who has watched it. It's comedian Will Sasso "pretending" to have an AI co-host. He says in the first episode that it's fake but to suspend your disbelief because they're gonna pretend it's real like wrestling. He visibly clicks a mouse to make Dudesy talk

[–] korny@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

I'm pretty sure there's a third guy in the room with them that is their AI voice, because his hand movements usually correlate to Will's stream deck camera changes

[–] Soyweiser@awful.systems 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ah right the lemons guy

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

I remember him as the Mad TV guy

[–] aelwero@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Imagine AI Carlin having a one on one conversation with George Carlin... I can't even fathom the amount of hostility :)

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

We don't have to imagine, we can us AI to simulate... oh wait.

[–] locallynonlinear@awful.systems 11 points 11 months ago

In the future, everything will be owned and nothing taken care of.

[–] unreasonabro@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

it's a computer's idea of a joke, the last sentence is the punchline. carlin's observational comedy wasn't usually so... stupid though. Clearly a joke written by somebody who doesn't actually live in this world. Actually, if you take seriously for a moment the things people usually say about UFO abduction experiences and whatnot, it lines up pretty well with the sort of clued-out things the abductors say to them. They really don't seem to understand how life works here.

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Ugh.

In order to make this kind of thing, here’s what you’ve gotta do:

  1. Write a bunch of jokes in the style of george carlin
  2. Record someone performing the jokes with similar delivery to Carlin
  3. Train an AI on carlin’s voice
  4. Use the AI to deepfake the voice into carlin.

3 and 4 are just a matter of time with any celebrity.

Given that carlin is one of the most influential standups OAT, a lot of comedians are already doing 1 and 2, in some sense. I’d love to romanticise comedy and say that most of the people doing this are doing it to hone their craft, rather than do this kind of cheap shit, however that’s not the case. I love comedy and listen to a lot of it to know that if comedians aren’t being hacky or cringe, they are probably doing the most soul crushing, cynical, humiliating things in the name of humor instead. So this is kind of par for the course.

[–] bcdavid@hachyderm.io 6 points 11 months ago

@self The word "gave" is doing a lot of work in that quote.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

I am definitely against using someone, especially a dead someone, to make money off of like this.

But I am watching the special, 15 minutes in, and it's actually kinda funny. Sounds more like an impersonation (exactly as it claims) than the real deal, but the material is spot on. Mostly. There are some jokes that aren't really there. Or at least, they fall flat because the AI delivery is far from perfect.

The stuff about God? Perfect. The bit about the child having unforeseen mental trauma due to seeing his classmates gunned down in a school shooting? Has potential, with the right delivery but was more shocking than funny. The quoted joke? Has a punchline; it just isn't very good.

[–] invertedspear@lemm.ee 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If the jokes are good, they shouldn’t need an AI Carlin to deliver them. Carlin was great because he wasn’t a coward, the people running this are hiding behind his image.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yep, Carlin was a comedy God because he was quick, he was sharp, and he was fearless. There wasn't any topic he wouldn't touch, but he also wasn't using shock just to be shocking. Many people have tried to imitate his routines and his style, and now I guess the computers will have a go at it, too.

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

that was what he was good at, but he was good because he'd spent decades as a comedian going through about four distinct styles. I heartily recommend Carlin's autobiography.

[–] pikesley@mastodon.me.uk 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

@dgerard @themeatbridge yeah, early stoner-hippy Class Clown Carlin is *very different* to righteously-furious post-Bill-Hicks Old Carlin

[–] dgerard@awful.systems 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

and before that, Actually Family-Friendly TV Comedian George Carlin

[–] pikesley@mastodon.me.uk 4 points 11 months ago

@dgerard and then of course you've got yer Bill and Ted Carlin

[–] korny@lemmy.world -3 points 11 months ago

I agree, I listen to the podcast this came from originally and they do some really interesting stuff. The one they did with Tom Brady was really funny as well and actually got a cease and desist from his lawyers, I feel like they did this one a little better in that regard at least.

I watched the special last night and it's actually pretty good and they're very open multiple times that it's not actually George Carlin.

[–] gerikson@awful.systems 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

AI boosters continue stepping on their own dicks, disgusting everyone:

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/01/the-george-carlin-ai-standup-is-worse-than-you-can-imagine/

[–] bitofhope@awful.systems 4 points 11 months ago

Sorry Jamie, but I can imagine any AI company to be pretty damn bad, so in this case they're not really worse than that.

[–] AcausalRobotGod@awful.systems 4 points 11 months ago

I've found a new way to torture these dumbasses.