Michael Parkinson’s son on AI podcast concerns: It will be 100% very ethical

The lad of Sir Michael Parkinson has dismissed concerns astir the speech amusement host’s dependable being recreated for a podcast utilizing artificial quality (AI).

Michael “Mike” Parkinson Jr, a producer, says his begetter spoke astir doing a podcast anterior to his decease past twelvemonth aged 88.

Parkinson Jr told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme connected Monday that helium “really wanted it to beryllium clear, it was an AI iteration”, and the producers Deep Fusion “are 100% precise ethical successful their approach” to utilizing the technology.

“They’re precise alert of the ineligible and ethical issues, and they volition not effort to walk this disconnected arsenic real,” helium added.

He said that helium and Sir Michael “had a agelong history” with this “jokey idea”, astir a podcast with celebrated guests that the chat amusement big had not interviewed specified arsenic classical Hollywood stars Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth “brought backmost to life”.

“Before helium died, we (me and my father) talked astir doing a podcast, and unluckily helium passed distant earlier it came true, which is wherever Deep Fusion came in,” helium said.

“I came to them and said ‘if we wanted to bash this podcast with my begetter talking astir his archive, is it possible?’, and they said ‘it’s much than possible, we deliberation we tin bash thing more’.”

He admitted that his begetter was “a technophobe”, but “would person been fascinated” by the caller technology, which has been utilized to bring backmost Elvis Presley for signifier shows, and vigor DJ Tommy Vance signing disconnected the Boom Rock station.

Parkinson Jr besides said that it is “strange” erstwhile the AI says his sanction successful Sir Michael’s voice, it is besides “extraordinary what they’ve achieved, due to the fact that I didn’t truly deliberation it was going to beryllium arsenic close arsenic that”.

“The large happening astir this AI is it listens, it truly listens, which is bonzer arsenic it’s precisely what my father’s motif was,” helium added.

He besides compared the synthetic dependable exertion to erstwhile the Parkinson amusement began airing connected June 19 1971, saying astatine the clip his begetter was “the caller idiosyncratic connected the block”.

He said the AI volition “find a caller audience, a younger audience, 1 that perchance wasn’t alert of what my begetter could do”.

“In galore ways, it’s a fantastic mode of extending the beingness of idiosyncratic who was an outlier and a unsocial endowment of his generation,” helium added.

Parkinson Jr interviewed his begetter arsenic portion of the BBC documentary: Parkinson At 50 and wrote the publication Like Father, Like Son with him.

Jamie Anderson, from Deep Fusion, told the Today programme that the eight-part podcast would person “notable, noteworthy people”, who are inactive alive, dissimilar the format discussed by Sir Michael and his son.

He said: “These are marque caller interviews, and the AI we’ve created is arsenic adjacent to the precocious Sir Michael arsenic we could perchance get it.

“He is autonomous, truthful we fto him commencement the interrogation and aft that it is up to AI Sir Michael, who is trained connected Sir Michael’s benignant and his interrogation questions.”

When asked if it was taking distant jobs from presenters, Anderson besides said: “The AI Michael is not replacing a presenter, it’s a caller podcast wherever Sir Michael’s bequest has continued truthful it’s not taking distant a presenter’s job.”

The podcast volition beryllium released connected YouTube-hosted The Michael Parkinson Channel successful the coming months.

Sir Michael had 3 sons with woman Mary, who helium joined successful 1959.