Drew Carey Caught Red-Handed Using A.I. to Do Every Part of His Radio Show
Some comedians are afraid of A.I. technology, fearing its emerging joke-writing abilities will put them out of business. Others are angry, like Jerry Seinfeld raging against his A.I. counterpart, Larry Feinberg. And then there’s Drew Carey, who decided to use A.I. to replace himself entirely.
In addition to hosting The Price is Right, Carey hosts a SiriusXM radio show, Friday Night Freakout. And as everyone who hosts a SiriusXM radio show knows, that gig can be kind of a drag. You have to talk into a microphone for minutes at a time, blah blah blah. Carey, frankly, had better things to do so he took a two-pronged A.I. approach to the problem. First, he had ChatGPT write up scripts so he wouldn’t have to think of things to say. Second, he used an artificially generated “Drew Carey” voice so he wouldn’t have to say anything at all.
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If you listen to computer-generated Carey, you have to admit — the guy’s pretty good! Maybe Carey’s mother or his dog can tell the difference, but to our untrained brains, this voice bringing us “three straight hours of rock and roll” sounds as compelling as the real thing. Unfortunately for Carey, Friday Night Freakout listeners have more discerning ears.
While the voice sounded like Carey, something — genuine enthusiasm? a soul? — was missing. “I violated a rule from Radio 101,” Carey told Engadget. “The reason FM stations and treasured radio stations still make money is because people like the personality of the DJs.” He says he’s learned his lesson and won’t do it again — but if he did, could we tell?
After all, it only took Carey and a friend one weekend to create his A.I. voice. Imagine if they devoted, oh, 10 days or so? The technology is only going to get better, and it doesn’t take a genius to make it work. When the comic asked ChatGPT to write a joke about how simple it is to use a chatbot, it came back with a punchline about it being so easy, “even Drew Carey can do it.”
While Carey says he won’t use a bot Carey as a radio substitute going forward, he could see A.I. taking over radio “grunt work” like reading scripts late at night or writing ad copy. You know, the kinds of jobs actual humans do. But too bad for them! “There are no blacksmiths anymore,” he explained. “If you’re a mechanic that works on internal combustion engine cars, if you don’t make the switch to electric soon, you’re out of a job.”
And if someone wants to pay him for the rights to a virtual Carey? “You know what, if the price is right, anything can happen,” he said, no doubt elbowing Engadget’s writer in the ribs to bring home the game-show pun. “I’m not worried about CGI Drew Carey taking over, because people want to see me.”
Are we sure about that? Carey better hope he isn’t ushering in the age of the comedy blacksmith.
