Last week, it was revealed that Ozzy Osbourne would be reanimated through AI technology, creating a hologram capable of interacting with fans and even appearing in commercials. Sharon Osbourne and her son Jack announced the development in Las Vegas, with the company behind the de-aged Paul McCartney set to bring the Prince of Darkness back to Birmingham.
While Sharon told the BBC that Birmingham would be the first stop on digital Ozzy's tour, not all fans were enthusiastic about the idea. The AI hologram will talk to fans, and the plan is for Birmingham to be the first location. But while Jack says it won't be 'lame', readers are divided.
Mixed reactions on Facebook
Our readers shared strong feelings on our Facebook page, with an almost equal split between heart emoji reactions and shocked and angry faces alongside the comments. Joe Riggle referred to the creator of Marvel comic books, who made an appearance at Los Angeles Comic Con last year. Joe wrote: 'They did it with Stan Lee already and it's pretty cool actually that it will have their whole personality and how they think. I mean, it's the closest thing to having them back!'
Jadnita Jones said: 'How distasteful.' Paul Dean Hooper added: 'No way!!!! This is so wrong.' Lisa Thornton said: 'This is disturbing on so many levels,' while James Canbury said simply: 'Appalling.'
Jack Osbourne responds to backlash
Jack Osbourne responded to fan backlash on a live stream broadcast to his 336,000 YouTube subscribers after the news broke on Saturday. He commented: 'Here's the thing, it's gonna be so tasteful what we're doing. It's not gonna be f****** lame. It's really complex what we're doing. 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. It's really cool and it's something that I think my dad would be into. We actually talked about it before he passed, about doing something like this. I know he would be into this.'
What do you think? Will you be joining the queue to interact with a hologram version of Ozzy Osbourne? Let us know in the comments.
