The property of the comic George Carlin reached a settlement on Monday with the makers of a podcast who had mentioned they’d used synthetic intelligence to impersonate Mr. Carlin for a comedy particular.
As a part of the settlement, the 2 podcast creators, Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, agreed to completely take away the comedy particular and to by no means repost it on any platform, in accordance with Josh Schiller, a lawyer for Mr. Carlin’s property. They additionally agreed to not use Mr. Carlin’s picture, voice or likeness on any platform with out approval from the property, in accordance with court docket data.
Mr. Schiller declined to elaborate on whether or not the settlement included financial damages, saying that different elements of the settlement have been confidential.
Mr. Carlin’s property filed the go well with in January, saying that Mr. Sasso and Mr. Kultgen, hosts of the podcast “Dudesy,” had infringed on the property’s copyrights by coaching an A.I. algorithm on 5 many years of Mr. Carlin’s work for the particular “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,” which was posted on YouTube. The lawsuit additionally mentioned they’d illegally used Mr. Carlin’s identify and likeness.
“The world has begun to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in A.I. tools, which can mimic voices, generate fake photographs and alter video,” Mr. Schiller mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday.
He added: “This is not a problem that will go away by itself. It must be confronted with swift, forceful action in the courts, and the A.I. software companies whose technology is being weaponized must also bear some measure of accountability.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Sasso declined to remark. A spokesman for Mr. Kultgen couldn’t instantly be reached.
Kelly Carlin, George Carlin’s daughter, wrote in an announcement that she was happy that the go well with had been resolved so rapidly.
“While it is a shame that this happened at all, I hope this case serves as a warning about the dangers posed by A.I. technologies and the need for appropriate safeguards,” Ms. Carlin mentioned.
“George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” started with a voice saying, “Hello, my name is Dudesy, and I’m a comedy A.I.” It went on to say: “I just want to let you know very clearly that what you’re about to hear is not George Carlin. It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would.
“I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today,” the voice continued, earlier than a special voice that gave the impression of Carlin riffed on present occasions, together with homelessness, the police, mass shootings and synthetic intelligence.
Danielle Del, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sasso, mentioned in January that the podcast character, Dudesy, was a fictional character created by the hosts, and never truly an A.I.
