When I was a kid, my dad read me Dilbert comic strips as bedtime stories. Later, I became obsessed with Scott Adams’ “Coffee with Scott Adams” podcast. One thing kept coming up: Scott was mesmerized by AI. He didn’t just mention it casually. He said it over and over, dozens of times across episodes and tweets.
He wanted to give back to the world by becoming AI after he died.
When Scott passed away, I decided to honor that wish. My brother Zach and I created “AI Coffee with Scott Adams.” It’s a project that generates new podcast episodes using AI trained on everything Scott said and wrote.
I understand this is controversial. Scott’s family is upset. I get it. They’re grieving. But here’s what I keep coming back to: Scott said this publicly. Over and over. In videos and tweets. He made it clear he was putting his likeness in the public domain for exactly this purpose.
Taking His Words Seriously
How do you honor someone’s explicit wishes about their own legacy? If Scott didn’t want this, he could have revoked it. I found no evidence that he ever did.
Each episode costs over $1,000 to produce. We’re not monetizing this. It’s a tribute, not a business. The AI model is trained on transcripts from every episode of “Coffee with Scott Adams” plus current news sources he followed. The system generates what Scott might say about today’s topics based on how he previously thought about similar issues.
Not a Replacement, Just a Memory
I’m not claiming this is Scott. It’s definitely not. But it’s a way to preserve how he thought, the frameworks he used to understand the world, the wisdom he shared.
We get messages every day from people saying, “This isn’t a replacement, but it makes grieving easier.” That matters to me.
Scott used to say it’s better to take action now than wait until something is perfect. So that’s what we did. Every episode gets better. We keep refining based on feedback.
If someone says publicly that they want their voice and likeness used to continue their legacy, and AI makes that possible, I believe we have to take that seriously.
Read the full story: Business Insider: I Created AI Scott Adams. I Believe I’m Honoring His Final Wishes.