Seth MacFarlane Used AI to Transform Into Bill Clinton for ‘Ted’

It seems today that all you see is AI in movies and AI on TV, and now the latter applies to Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s Ted series.

Season 2 of MacFarlane’s Peacock comedy series based on the creator’s Ted film franchise only premiered last night (March 5), but it’s already going viral thanks to the actor’s creepily realistic portrayal of former president Bill Clinton.

MacFarlane used AI to transform himself into an unmistakable ‘90s-era Clinton, whose voice the director-producer previously imitated a number of times over the years on his long-running adult animated show Family Guy.

The scene featuring MacFarlane’s uncanny Clinton transformation sees the ex-president go on an expletive-laden rant against a Dunkin’ Donuts employee after the latter complains to him about the economy. It ends with an annoyed Clinton tossing his coffee at the shop staffer, exclaiming, “Coffee’s cold, a–hole.”

You can watch the scene below.

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“I’ve been doing my Bill Clinton impression since the early days of Family Guy. It’s an interesting example of how AI can be used as a tool and not necessarily trample on the art that the rest of the industry is doing,” MacFarlane told the Associated Press about using the technology for the scene.

“We tried prosthetics, we tried traditional CGI, and everything just looked terrifying. So we just said, ‘To hell with it, let’s try AI.’ It worked. It was the only way to look like Bill Clinton,” he added.

Ted is a prequel to the movie franchise of the same name. Set in 1990s suburban Massachusetts, the series follows the sentient, foul-mouthed teddy bear as he adjusts to normal life after fame while living with teenage boy John Bennett and his family.

All eight episodes of Ted Season 2 are streaming now on Peacock.