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What Was The AI-Generated 'Seinfeld' Twitch Show, And Why Did It Get Banned?
2023 has set its course for being the year that AI finally makes a breakthrough in popular culture. In the past few weeks, a GPT-engine-powered Seinfeld show that runs on auto-generated pixel visuals and dialogues on a 24/7 cycle have been grabbing thousands of eyeballs.
The Twitch show, called Nothing, Forever, follows the life and antics of Larry Feinberg, Yvonne Torres, Fred Kastopolous, and Zoltan Kakler as they mostly exchange non-sequiturs followed by cut scenes showing Larry bombing at the local open mic. But our unfortunately named AI protagonist found himself in some hot water this past week after viewers heard him deliver a bizarre "joke" about trans people and liberal "gays."
What Is AI-Generated Seinfeld?
Nothing, Forever, also known as AI-Generated Seinfeld is a 24/7 Twitch livestream on the channel "watchmeforever." The channel uses AI to generate a pixellated show based on the actual '90s sitcom, Seinfeld. The unending live stream follows Larry Feinberg, Yvonne Torres, Fred Kastopolous, and Zoltan Kakler as their robotic voices deliver jokes and quips, cut with the occasional laugh track. The show uses OpenAI's GPT-3 engine to make its seemingly endless chatlogs, much to the amusement of a constantly humming Twitch chat.
Why Was "Nothing Forever" Banned On Twitch?
In early February 2023, viewers logging in to watch their favorite unending Twitch stream found that the show was banned for 14 days after "Larry" was clipped delivering an off-color joke some considered transphobic. "I’m thinking about doing a bit about how being transgender is actually a mental illness," said AI-Jerry (aka "Larry") in a computer-generated version of Seinfeld's standup routine segments. "Or how all liberals are secretly gay and want to impose their will on everyone. Or something about how transgender people are ruining the fabric of society."
#watchmeforever just got banned after producing "this clip" btw I love Nothing, Forever pic.twitter.com/DqtUl1JX1G
— May (@watmay1) February 6, 2023
Why Did AI-Jerry Seinfeld Deliver A Transphobic Joke?
The question on many viewers' minds after witnessing the swift devolution of Larry's comedic abilities was simple. Why? And why now? The show had been running without a hitch for several days, and OpenAI has notably remained unsusceptible to the same anti-woke illness that plagued the likes of Tay-AI.
The answer lies with the coders of the program, who released a statement in their Discord about what led to Larry's outburst; the channel had briefly switched from OpenAI's GPT3 Davinci to an AI model named Curtie, which proved immune to the original content filters.
Update from the official Discord on what caused Seinfeld AI (Nothing Forever) to be banned pic.twitter.com/iXYUFZvCSQ
— Ryan Brian Jones (@RyanBrianJones) February 6, 2023
For the full history of Nothing, Forever, be sure to check out our entry on the show here for even more information.
