Jack Osbourne defends Ozzy Osbourne AI project after backlash: ‘It was my own fault’

Jack Osbourne is defending his family after recent backlash over plans to bring the late Ozzy Osbourne back to life with the help of AI.  

© Ron Galella

It all started back at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas on May 20, when Jack and his mom, Sharon Osbourne, announced that they were partnering with digital human technology companies to create an interactive AI-powered avatar of Ozzy.

The announcement sparked backlash from fans who questioned whether recreating a deceased musician through AI was appropriate.

While on Jamie Laing’s Great Company podcast, the 40-year-old said he believed the criticism surrounding the project was partly his fault because he didn’t do a good job explaining what the family was actually creating.

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“The backlash, it was my own fault,” Jack admitted, adding that he had not been “properly armed with the way to properly explain what it was.”

He also addressed fans’ concerns that the Black Sabbath frontman’s likeness could eventually be used commercially to sell products or purposes he might not have supported.

“I think people thought that, you know, next thing you know, it’s going to be Ozzy Osbourne selling cell phones,” Jack explained.

However, he stressed that the family’s intentions go beyond creating a digital version of Ozzy for advertisements, framing the technology as another way to protect the late musician’s image and intellectual property for years to come.

What is Ozzy Osbourne’s AI project?

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The family’s plans are for a digital recreation of Ozzy that is capable of moving, speaking, and responding to fans. Sharon explained that people would eventually be able to ask the digital version of Ozzy questions and hear responses in his voice.

The project would use approved source material to recreate his likeness, voice, and mannerisms. Back in May, Jack addressed the criticism during a livestream on his YouTube channel, saying that the project would be handled thoughtfully.

“This isn’t just like hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT,” he said. “This is some high-level technology that we’re gonna be working with, and it’s gonna feel very real.”

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He also said he believed his father would have supported the idea, revealing that they had discussed doing something similar before Ozzy died. “We actually talked about it before he passed, about doing something like this,” Jack said. “I know he would be into this.”

Jack explains why his family wants to protect Ozzy’s digital likeness

© Greg Doherty

On Great Company, Jack offered a more detailed explanation of the reasoning behind the project, arguing that AI is becoming an unavoidable part of the entertainment industry.

“By creating the AI model and creating the digital fingerprint of, you know, whoever, whatever, whether it’s my father or, you know, Bob Marley’s people are doing it and Michael Jackson’s team are doing it,” he said.

Jack explained that creating a digital likeness gives the people responsible for an artist’s legacy greater control over how that person is represented as technology advances.

“You ultimately will own the digital IP and image of that person,” he said, referring to intellectual property.

He acknowledged that there are currently limits to what the technology can do, but believes it will become an increasingly important part of entertainment.

“It’s no different than saying I want to own, you know, my images of my father. I want to own, you know, his intellectual property, whatever,” Jack continued. “It’s just another avenue.”

He added that his family wanted to be proactive rather than risk losing control of Ozzy’s likeness as AI becomes more sophisticated.

“It was our choice to go, ‘Hey, we should be out in front of this,’” Jack explained, saying the family wanted to make sure the new form of entertainment was “properly locked down.”