Jack Osbourne Defends Plans To Create AI Avatar Of Late Father Ozzy

Jack Osbourne has jumped to the defence of a new project recreating his later father Ozzy’s likeness using AI.

Last week, Jack and the rest of the Osbourne family announced plans to create a digital avatar based on the Black Sabbath frontman’s image in collaboration with tech companies Hyperreal and Proto Hologram.

Appearing at the advertising industry event Licensing Expo alongside his mum Sharon and sister Kelly, he enthused: “It’s kind of scary how it’s really very accurate. He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers.”

Jack continued: “Technology has come such a long way to where it’s almost drag and drop. You could shoot a template for a commercial [and] literally prompt what you want Digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It’s that simple now.”

Sharon also noted that the family plan to take the digital avatar “all around the world”, allowing fans to have the opportunity to “talk to him and he will talk back”.

Meanwhile, Hyperreal also told Billboard last week these avatars would be popping up on interactive, life-size touchscreen devices at venues across both sides of the Atlantic.

However, with AI being such a contentious issue across creative industries, these announcements were met with criticism from some, which Jack addressed in a YouTube live-stream.

“It’s going to be so tasteful what we’re doing,” the former I’m A Celebrity campmate insisted (as reported by The Guardian). “It’s not gonna be fucking lame.”

He added: “This isn’t just like hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT. This is some high-level technology that we’re gonna be working with, and it’s gonna feel very real, and it’s kind of wild how it will be utilised.”

This isn’t the first time that digital recreations of Ozzy’s likeness have ruffled feathers, though.

Shortly after Ozzy’s death last year, Sir Rod Stewart raised eyebrows when he made use of an AI video in one of his live shows, depicting the rocker in heaven meeting Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Tupac Shakur, Freddie Mercury and Tina Turner, among others.