Chat show legend Michael Parkinson is being brought back to life in a podcast – through the wonders of artificial intelligence. Parky, famed for his interviews with star guests including dancer Fred Astaire and boxer Muhammad Ali, died last year aged 88. Now his son has given his backing to a project which will see an AI version of the king of interviews quizzing new celebrities.
The new AI voice is not an approximation of Sir Michael’s voice, his son Mike said – it is a perfect replica. Mike added: “It’s exactly how he delivered his questions – even the pacing is the same. It stills people when they hear it.
” The eight-part unscripted series, Virtually Parkinson, will allow new guests to be questioned in Parkinson’s famously relaxed style, with the full backing of his family. The podcast later this year, made by Deep Fusion Films, is believed to be the first to be entirely presented by an AI host. Mike added: “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.
“Doing this now, trying something so new, we feel a bit like he must have felt back in 1971 when his show started.” The AI version of Parky and his voice has been created using data from his back catalogue of hundreds of interviews on BBC and ITV. These included his chats with comic Billy Connolly that made the Scot a household name, footballer George Best and even the disastrous chat with actress .
