AI SpongeBob Twitch Stream is like AI Seinfeld

If AI Seinfeld didn’t terrify you enough, another beloved comedy series is getting the Twitch AI treatment. Earlier this month, the ai_sponge channel launched a live video service, showing the world a more demented version of “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Like AI Seinfeld (officially known as “Nothing, Forever”), which used the bones of “Seinfeld” to create a rambunctious AI nightmare, ai_sponge uses iconic characters from the Nickelodeon animated series — including SpongeBob himself, his best friend Patrick, his boss, Mr. Krabs and his nemesis Squidward. He engages them in a series of wildly tortuous conversations. Featuring graphics from the cartoon’s 2003 video game tie-in, “Battle for Bikini Bottom,” the streams see a seemingly AI-controlled version of SpongeBob, which is saying something. asWe’re talking about “it’s got to be Sperd if we’re going to make that Krabby Patty stuff work” or Jeff Bezos.

The voices of the characters are not completely robotic and mechanical; instead, they often approach their voice actors on the show fairly, with SpongeBob having the same high-pitched voice as Tom Kenny and Mr. Krabs.

The show’s tropes also appear in other ways; From time to time, one of the “A few moments later” transition cards, which are standard throughout the show, complete with narration very similar to the show, will appear on the screen. Everything falls apart from time to time, a sound disturbance into incomprehensible gibberish.

ai_sponge launched on March 5th. Unlike “Nothing, Forever,” which runs 24/7 — barring bans where the AI ​​goes off the rails with transphobic jokes — ai_sponge only appears periodically. After that, apparently banned Since its 48-hour existence, the channel has been streaming every other day, usually in the morning, for 2.6-4.7 hours a day.

Currently, the channel has roughly 26,000 followers on Twitch TwitchTracker. His last broadcast on Friday morning was watched by an average of 3,500 viewers at a time; its maximum concurrent views was 4,461. Both are highs for the channel, which had a maximum concurrent viewership of just 572 and an average concurrent viewership of 148 during its first broadcast.

Also unlike “Nothing, Forever,” created by designers Skyler Hartle and Brian Habersberger for Mismatch Media, this AI SpongeBob show doesn’t appear to have a public owner or anyone claiming the channel as their own. As such, it’s technically possible that the thing isn’t actually created solely by AI, though if not, it certainly manages to capture the feel of AI art.

“Nothing, Forever” made a big splash when it debuted in December 2022, with thousands of viewers tuning in to the live stream; it has also spawned some similar shows, such as the AI-generated anime 24/7 “Always a break”.

At the same time, “Nothing, Forever” raised concerns about how AI programs affect real-life writers and whether the “Seinfeld” parody infringes on copyright. After returning from a Twitch ban earlier this month, the show especially did so restarted a bit, removing many of the “Seinfeld” trappings that gave it initial publicity. ai_sponge, at least right now, probably isn’t big enough to attract real legal action from Nickelodeon — though the network almost certainly wouldn’t be a fan of a “SpongeBob” parody where the main character and Patrick talks about something they have sex with each other.

You can check out ai_sponge herewhen you stream.

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