Offensive AI Family Guy Version Banned on Twitch, Still Available on YouTube
The account hosting the parody show was taken down minutes after one of its characters made a bomb threat.
Over the past few months, AI has become a firmly established part of the live streaming culture. Various generative tools such as OpenAI DaVinci, Bing AI, and Adobe Firefly allow Twitch, YouTube, and Kick users to create parodies of popular TV shows and stream them on the platforms for hours or even days.
The AI-generated versions of Seinfeld, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Family Guy have attracted thousands of viewers intrigued by the novelty of powerful technology that can take suggestions and interact with the audience while generating parody scenes. But in this case, the lack of human and control factors led to a disaster.
Without any screening process, the AI-generated scenes often turn out to be offensive and may even carry dangerous messages, leaving streaming platforms no choice but to ban the accounts that post them — AI Seinfeld, for example, was shut down for homophobic jokes. And recently, the @ai_peter account, which hosts the Family Guy parody, received its own Twitch ban for a bomb threat that came out of one of its characters' mouths.
'I was watching AI Family Guy and Peter did a bomb threat and they took the stream down 2 mins later,' a witness recalled on Twitter, attaching a screenshot of the AI character giving instructions on how best to plant a bomb in Washington DC's Capital One Arena.
The sequence was later removed from YouTube, but the @ai-peter account is still active on the platform, though not streaming. As for Twitch, users attempting to visit the account page will see the following message:
'This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch's Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.'
To be fair, the ban of AI Family Guy seemed to be a matter of time, as many fans found it offensive for its over-the-top jokes and inappropriately gruesome storylines. For example, in one sequence, the AI-generated Peter Griffin announced the death of the beloved character from the original show, the family dog Brian, which left viewers in shock.
So far, it looks like artificial intelligence, like humanity, has a long way to go before it learns acceptable social norms and humor that offends no one.