Credit: ABCThe Jeopardy! host discovered they had been replaced by artificial intelligence and revealed the harrowing truth of the takeover.
Jeopardy!, like other shows that have decided to return during the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and Association of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, is currently under heavy contention.
After wrapping Season 39, Jeopardy! Season 40 has begun with Ken Jennings behind the lectern. While he shares hosting duties with Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory, Call Me Kat), the comedy actress and podcast host stepped away from Jeopardy! back in May when the WGA strikes began.
Since Bialik has been absent from proceedings, Jennings has replaced her through the end of the 39th season and has taped her episodes, though not without backlash. It was then announced, rather controversially, that Jeopardy! Season 40 would begin with the Tournament of Champions, where contestants discovered they would likely be playing with clues written by WGA writers prior to the strikes and even recycled material.
Upon significant backlash, Jeopardy! Productions and showrunner Michael Davies changed course and instead began the new series of episodes with a Second Chance tournament. With Bialik still out as host, Jennings has also taken over her role as interim host on the ABC primetime special Celebrity Jeopardy! Prior to the strikes, both co-hosts each led their own primetime special or specials; Jennings hosted Jeopardy! Masters, while Bialik did Celebrity Jeopardy! and the Jeopardy! National College Championship.
Related: ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Mayim Bialik Facing Backlash for Changing Rules Mid-Show
For Jeopardy! Masters, contestant James Holzhauer was crowned the champion, beating out the likes of other high-profile Jeopardy! players like Mattea Roach, Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider.
While all the drama ensues in the United States regarding the Jennings and Bialik, who took over from host Mike Richards, and the controversy over using recycled clues, in the United Kingdom, a new person is about to join the long line of hosts and continue the late Alex Trebek’s Jeopardy! hosting legacy.
It was announced back in February that British icon Stephen Fry would be hosting the upcoming reboot of Jeopardy! on U.K. screens, which has been off the air since the 1990s.
“In the United States, Jeopardy! is a phenomenon like no other. Whenever I’m in America, I do my damnedest to catch it every weekday,’ said Fry earlier this year (via The Independent). “The idea of hosting it here in the UK makes me dizzy with delight. Such a dedicated quizzing nation as ours will, I hope, welcome this uniquely beguiling and endlessly rewarding game.”
The excitement the star has over hosting Jeopardy!, however, was overshadowed recently when the actor and former QI host revealed a stark warning about Artificial Intelligence (AI).
During the CogX Festival, which took place across London, including the O2 Arena, between September 12 and 14, Stephen Fry spoke about the dangers of AI and revealed a harrowing truth.
The actor and writer played the audience a documentary, narrated by him… or so it would have seemed.
“I’m a proud member of [actors’ union SAG-AFTRA]. As you know, we’ve been on strike for three months now. And one of the burning issues is AI,” he told the audience (via MovieWeb). “I said not one word of that — it was a machine. Yes, it shocked me. They used my reading of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter books, and from that dataset, an AI of my voice was created, and it made that new narration.”
Fry is beloved in the Wizarding World fandom for being the narrator on the seven volumes of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. He went on to state how this might be audio, but soon, there will be enough technology to make deepfake visual content just as convincing. AI, along with streaming and residual pay, has been a major talking point surrounding the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“What you heard was not the result of a mashup. This is from a flexible artificial voice, where the words are modulated to fit the meaning of each sentence. It could therefore have me read anything from a call to storm Parliament to hard porn, all without my knowledge and without my permission,” Fry said.
Fry reminded those in attendance that his documentary narration was done without his knowledge or permission, saying that his agents, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States, went “ballistic” and did not know such technology was possible.
Shortly after his impassioned speech, Fry actually took a fall while exiting the O2 Arena. “We were deeply concerned to hear of Stephen’s accident after giving his inspirational speech on the impact of AI,” said a spokesperson for the event. “We are thinking of him and wishing him a swift recovery. We have opened our own inquiry, and until then, we are not able to share any further details.”
Related: ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Invokes the Late Alex Trebek to Defend Controversial Behavior
Jeopardy! UK will return to the ITV network this October and run for 20 episodes, all complete with the classic Jeopardy! formula. From Daily Doubles to the Final Jeopardy!, the only notable changes will be that the dollar values will be replaced with a points system, and the episodes are said to be longer in length.
Stephen Fry follows the likes of Derek Hobson, Chris Donat, Steve Jones, and Paul Ross as the Jeopardy! host for the U.K. show.
Do you have concerns over Artificial Intelligence? What do you think of this Jeopardy! host being replaced by AI? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!