Michael Parkinson to return in AI form to ‘host’ new interview show

nme.com:

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.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.