Andy Warhol “Narrates” New Docuseries on His Life Through AI

The Pop Art iconoclast’s voice is “resurrected” with artificial intelligence in a new Netflix series about his life and relationships

The story of Popism icon Andy Warhol has been told in many ways, many times. Interviews, documentaries, art books, and memoirs have all sought to capture what it was that made him so influential and unique.

Now, Netflix’s new docuseries The Andy Warhol Diaries is taking things one step further. Creator Andrew Rossi and his team have used AI to create a model capable of reading Warhol’s diary entries in a voice eerily close to the real thing.

How Andy Warhol became AI

Rossi worked with an AI company, making a text-to-speech algorithm that recognized the core elements of Warhol’s voice, such as his Pittsburgh accent. Then, actor Bill Irwin recorded his own impression of Warhol. The two aspects were combined to create a singular sound that was as close to the real artist as possible.

Where does the source material come from, you might ask? Warhol spent eleven years (up until the week he died) having daily phone conversations with his friend Pat Hackett. Originally a way to track his spending for tax purposes, the conversations are a surreal mixture of mundane everyday events to the glamor of celebrity meetings and sudden trips around the world. The diaries were published as a written memoir in 1989.

Netflix’s six part documentary is executive-produced by Ryan Murphy and directed by Rossi, with the angle that Warhol would have approved of his voice being used in this way. Permission was sought from his foundation, and the idea of a reconstructed self seems at home among his depictions of consumerism, celebrity mystique, and the allure of products: things made to be appreciated, admired, or adored.

It’s not the first time that the controversial technique has been used to uncover art history or tell someone’s story posthumously, either. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was resurrected for just a few spoken lines in the documentary Roadrunner — although viewers were not initially informed of this, which caused some to voice discomfort around the ethics of AI celebs.

Meanwhile, Get Back, a snapshot of The Beatles as they tried to record an album and turn around a live show in a matter of weeks, didn’t recreate the musicians’ voices but instead used AI “demixing” to remove disruptive instrument sounds and expose previously private conversations (as reported by Guitar magazine).

These examples are distinct from the sort of “deepfakes” that can be used for misinformation, as they all reflect things actually said or written by the people involved. Still, the ethics of this emerging technology is still hotly debated.

“The art you know, the artist you don’t”

The Netflix series begins streaming on March 9. The six parts cover mostly the emotional experiences the Pop Art legend recounts in his diaries, following an intensely personal track considering how private he was.

From growing up with his Slovakian parents in New York, to the moment he was shot in 1968, to his budding relationship with interior designer Jed Johnson, key snapshots from his life are captured and explored. Then, alongside the diary entries, we hear from a range of friends, associates, and artists inspired by Warhol.

Though he often said there was no meaning to be found in his work, the series looks at themes and ideas that simmer beneath the surface. Was he satirical, or genuinely enamored with consumerist glitz and the business world? How did his spirituality, personality, and sexuality coincide (or not)? There seems to be a goldmine of ideas and inspiration just hidden from view, for those who take the time to look.

Have you watched The Andy Warhol Diaries? What do you think about the use of artificial intelligence in documentaries? Let us know what you thought in the comments.

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