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Promotional art for George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead
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George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead

Dudesy

YouTube · 2024 · 60 min

An unauthorized, AI-generated deepfake of a dead comedian.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

An AI-generated voice of George Carlin complaining about streaming services and Taylor Swift is either a technological marvel or an act of digital grave-robbing, depending on who you ask. Released on YouTube in early 2024, “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead” was presented as an hour-long set created by “Dudesy,” a self-proclaimed comedy artificial intelligence managed by podcasters Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen. The synthetic Carlin delivers a steady stream of rants about modern American life, attempting to replicate the late comedian’s signature cadence and structural skepticism on topics like mass shootings, social media, and the rise of AI itself.

The illusion of an autonomous, joke-writing machine did not last long. Following immediate backlash from Carlin’s family, his estate filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging copyright and right-of-publicity violations. It was soon revealed that the special wasn’t the spontaneous output of a neural network; Kultgen had written the script himself before running it through a voice-cloning generator. The resulting performance suffers from the lack of actual human timing, sounding more like a monotonous Dennis Leary monologue than a seasoned stand-up working a room.

In the settlement, Sasso and Kultgen agreed to remove the special from all platforms and promised never to use Carlin’s voice or image again.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Artificial intelligence erasing stand-up comedy

    AI Carlin asserts that stand-up comedy is the profession most threatened by AI, mocking comics who think their subtle fart jokes cannot be replicated by computers.

  2. Boycotting tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos

    AI Carlin suggests that people tired of seeing Jeff Bezos fly into space in his 'cock rocket' simply boycott Amazon for a month to make the company fold and Bezos disappear.

  3. American exceptionalism and mass shootings

    AI Carlin satirizes how America applies its bigger-and-better mindset to mass casualty gun violence compared to other nations.

How it plays

Tone
Expletive-laced, satirical, and provocative.
On stage
A synthetic imitation of George Carlin in signature provocateur mode, mimicking his cadence, attitude, and profane observational style.
Pace
Described as predictable and carrying a surreal lifelessness, structured around a formula of named targets, bad jokes, dirty words, and canned laughter.
About
artificial intelligence, mass shootings, American class system, streaming services, social media, billionaires

What the critics said

Universally panned by critics, fellow impressionists, and Carlin's family as an unfunny, hollow parlor trick that failed to capture Carlin's unpredictable genius.

In the room: Backlash and indignation from fans and comedy purists, accompanied on the track by canned applause and laughter.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: variety.com, forbes.com, storage.courtlistener.com, reuters.com, vulture.com, npr.org, latimes.com, arstechnica.com, cnn.com.

Backstory

Released on YouTube more than 15 years after George Carlin's death in 2008, amid intense cultural debate surrounding generative AI, creative authenticity, and digital likeness rights.

Details

Released
Runtime
60 min
Where
YouTube
Topics

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