Michael Parkinson's son 'isn't trying to bring father back' with AI podcast: "A lazy accusation"

But producers Benjamin Field and Mike Parkinson – the latter the son of the TV personality known affectionately as 'Parky' – insist that their podcast series is an example of AI use done right.

The biggest misapprehension that people might have about the series, Mike says, is simply "that it's my father. That somehow I've engendered an idea to bring my father back, which it never was meant to be – at all.

"It's a simple, lazy accusation to be levelled at me – and it misses the point. It never was that and I never would have been part of something that would even think of doing that."

Virtually Parkinson is, Field adds, "an experiment" that seeks to answer a question: can AI generate an authentic interview experience? As a host renowned for being "warm and generous and charismatic and disarming", the real Parkinson he argues is "the perfect foil" for AI, which is "seen as being cold and uncaring".

It's also an evolving piece, with feedback from guests who have featured on the series so far shaping ongoing updates to the AI model.

In fact, while most have had a positive experience – Mike cites comedian and Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland's "almost childlike joy" and how retired athlete Fatima Whitbread became "almost tearful" at hearing Parkinson's voice replicated – some strong feedback from horticulturist and TV host Monty Don, who felt the AI had failed to successfully mimic a human interaction, resulted in "a massive change" to the model that the Virtually Parkinson team say has massively improved its interview skills.

"It's about taking this as far as it will go in order to create the most authentic experience that we can, whilst also being aware of the limitations – and highlighting the limitations," says Field. "I'd like to find out how close to a human experience we can get – and so we will keep going until we think that we can't get any closer."

So it's an experiment – but is it ethical? For his part, Mike says that Virtually Parkinson aligns with "his father's sensibilities" and is in no way intended to be exploitative. "The approach, the questioning, the nature of it... it will never, ever contravene what my father stood for."

Though the podcast's simple question-and-answer format may be somewhat dictated by the limitations of the existing AI model, Mike argues that this stripped-back approach is actually more reflective of his father's interviewing style than many modern chat shows.

"Because of social media and the need to shout louder, every interaction has become more and more hysterical – it's full of cacophony and oneupmanship," he says of the current crop. The aim with Virtually Parkinson is to make the guest once again "the leading voice" – he points to a recent episode which saw former footballer Jill Scott open up about her love of poetry and even read out some of her own self-penned works.

"I don't think that would have happened with a human host – because there is no judgement [with an AI host]."

Field, meanwhile, argues that the series is an example of what he considers to be ethical AI use, involving "informed consent and renumeration" – in short, the podcast is produced with full permission and the backing of Parkinson's estate and the voice model is licensed and paid for. "If you have all the necessary permissions and you have paid for all the licences to be able to train the models and so on, then that is what constitutes ethical and responsible."

Field is the co-founder of Deep Fusion Films, the production company behind Virtually Parkinson which also produced Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted, a documentary that utilised AI to recreate the late Gerry Anderson's voice and presence. But he is also actively involved in advocating for responsible AI use and legislation, collaborating with industry bodies such as PACT and Equity UK to develop frameworks and policies governing AI's role in broadcast content.

"We have to ensure that copyright is respected, that human creativity is respected, and that digital likeness and image rights are respected," he says. "There are no digital image rights in the UK. You can do anything with anybody's digital likeness and there's no comeback to that.

"I could make a deepfake of you and make you say and do things on the internet that you've never said or done... and that needs sorting very, very quickly."

But with suitable permissions secured, the Virtually Parkinson team aren't afraid of pushing their experiment further and into potentially even more controversial territory – Deep Fusion Films is already building an AI avatar that would lend their podcast host a visual presence, replicating Parkinson's image along with his voice.

All of this, Mike says, will allow the AI interview experience to become "much more authentic" given time. "That's a really exciting process to watch," he says. "My father was given 10 episodes at the start of his career to prove himself – and it was only really by episode 6 or 7 where suddenly it began to take off. I think that's where we are with this, I genuinely do."

Virtually Parkinson is available as a podcast and episodes are also available to watch on YouTube.

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