The estate of the comedian George Carlin settled on Monday with the creators of a podcast that had said they had used artificial intelligence to impersonate Mr. Carlin for a comedy special.
As part of the settlement, the two podcast creators, Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, agreed to permanently remove the comedy special and never republish it on any platform, according to Josh Schiller, a lawyer for Mr. Carlin’s estate. They also agreed not to use Mr. Carlin’s image, voice or likeness on any platform without approval from the estate, according to court records.
Mr. Schiller declined to elaborate on whether the settlement included monetary damages, saying other parts of the settlement were confidential.
Mr. Carlin’s estate filed suit in January, saying that Mr. Sasso and Mr. Kultgen, hosts of the “Dudesy” podcast, had infringed the estate’s copyright by training an AI algorithm on five decades of Mr. Carlin’s work for the “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” special, which was posted on YouTube. The lawsuit also said they had illegally used Mr. Carlin’s name and likeness.
“The world is beginning to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in artificial intelligence tools that can mimic voices, create fake photos and alter videos,” Mr Schiller said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added: “This is not a problem that will go away on its own. It must be met with swift, vigorous action in the courts, and the AI software companies whose technology is being weaponized must also bear some responsibility.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Sasso declined to comment. A representative for Mr. Kultgen could not immediately be reached.
Kelly Carlin, George Carlin’s daughter, wrote in a statement that she was pleased the case was resolved so quickly.
“While it is a shame that this happened at all, I hope this case serves as a warning about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence technologies and the need for appropriate safeguards,” Ms Carlin said.
“George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” began with a voice saying, “Hi, my name is Dudesy and I’m an AI comedian.” He went on to say, “I just want to make it very clear that what you’re about to hear is not it’s George Carlin. It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in exactly the same way that a human impressionist would.
“I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, his rhythm and his attitude, and what I think he would be interested in today,” the voice continued, before hearing a different voice who looked like Carlin. current events, including homelessness, the police, mass shootings, and artificial intelligence.
Danielle Del, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sasso, said in January that the podcast character, Dudesy, was a fictional character created by the hosts and not actually an AI
