The legendary chat show host Michael Parkinson is set to return in AI form to ‘host’ a new interview show.
The broadcaster passed away last year at the age of 88 after a brief illness, having been one of the most high-profile talk show hosts in British television history.
But now, Parkinson is primed to make the unlikeliest of comebacks in the new podcast series Virtually Parkinson (via The Guardian). The eight-part unscripted series will feature an AI-generated version of the presenter with a range of guests from the new generation, none of whom it would have been possible for Parkinson to interview during his life.
Sir Michael Parkinson. Credit: Getty Images
The project has been undertaken by Deep Fusion Films and has been made with the full support of Parkinson’s family and estate. It will assemble an AI version of the host after culling data from hundreds of his archived interviews with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Fred Astaire, Billy Connolly, Elton John and George Best.
“We’re going for a new generation of guest talent, but that doesn’t mean he would not go back again to people he interviewed before,” said Parkinson’s son Mike about the series. “Doing this now, trying something so new, we feel a bit like he must have felt back in 1971 when his show started.”
Speaking about how close to the man himself the AI version will sound, Mike continued: “It’s exactly how he delivered his questions – even the pacing is the same. It stills people when they hear it.”
The creators of Deep Fusion, Ben Field and Jamie Anderson, have stressed that they have not scripted the questions for the AI Parkinson to ask, but have simply input the data from the archives and allowed AI to generate the content.
“We do not ever instruct the AI what to say,” said Field. “We just asked him to say ‘hello’ after feeding in everything we know about Michael Parkinson to bring him back as authentically as possible.”
No guests have yet been confirmed for the series.
The use of AI in art continues to be a hot topic of debate. In recent days, Thom Yorke and Björn Ulvaeus were among those signing a statement against using creatives’ work to train AI.
Nick Cave has said the use of AI in music was “unbelievably disturbing”, and Peter Hook claimed: “Every AI song that has ever been written is shit”.
Guillermo Del Toro also dismissed the technology, quipping, “it can do semi-compelling screensavers and that’s that.”
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