The estate of comedian George Carlin reached a settlement Monday with the makers of a podcast that said they 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 not repost it on any platform, according to Josh Schiller, an attorney for the owner. -property of Mr. Carlin. 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 financial damages, saying other parts of the agreement were confidential.
Mr. Carlin’s estate filed suit in January, alleging that Mr. Sasso and Mr. Kultgen, hosts of the “Dudesy” podcast, violated the estate’s copyrights by practicing an AI algorithm on Mr. Carlin’s five decades of work for the special “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” posted on YouTube. The lawsuit also said that they illegally used the name and likeness of Mr. Carlin.
“The world is beginning to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in AI tools, which can imitate voices, generate fake photographs and alter video,” said Mr. Schiller in a statement on Tuesday.
He added: “This is not a problem that will go away on its own. This should be met with swift, strong action in the courts, and the AI software companies whose technology is being weaponized should also be held to some measure of accountability.
A spokesman for Mr. Sasso declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr. Kultgen could not immediately be reached.
Kelly Carlin, daughter of George Carlin, wrote in a statement that she was pleased the lawsuit was resolved so quickly.
“While it is a shame that this happened, I hope that this case serves as a warning about the dangers posed by AI technologies and the need for appropriate safeguards,” said Ms. Carlin.
“George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” began with a voice saying, “Hello, my name is Dudesy, and I’m a comedy AI” It went on to say: “I just wanted to let you know .what you’re hearing is obviously not George Carlin. This is my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in exactly the same way that an impressionist would.
“I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, rhythm and mannerisms as well as the subject matter that I thought would interest him today,” the voice continued, before another Carlin’s voice seems to riff on 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
