by Debbie Burke
Following up on Jim Bell’s discussion of Agatha Christie from Sunday…
The headline in the May 16, 2025 Saturday Evening Post read:
AI AGATHA CHRISTIE WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO WRITE!
I can’t express my initial reaction because this is a G-rated blog. Suffice it to say, I was gobsmacked, horrified, and disappointed. Taking advantage of the deceased by commercializing and monetizing their image seems disrespectful when the person is no longer around to object. But that’s just me.
The idea of bringing dead people back to life using AI is also creepy but weirdly fascinating. Some music videos of contemporary, living singers performing duets with dead legends have been done quite well.
My fave is the 1989 video of “There’s a Tear in My Beer” with Hank Williams, Jr. playing alongside Hank Sr. who died when his son was only three. That gave this performance special poignance, imagining what might have been if Senior hadn’t died at age 29.
But AI has come a long way since 1989, with deepfakes and phony impersonations. Nothing is sacred anymore. And people will go to any outrageous lengths to make a buck.
The Agatha headline conjured up a TikTok-style, faux-historical bastardization of her image, dancing as she typed on her antique manual typewriter in time to “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
To my surprise, the video excerpt wasn’t awful and was quite interesting. Dame Agatha’s great-grandson and the Christie estate kept a firm grip on the production, ensuring a tasteful, authentic representation of her. The script used her own words from her writings about her storytelling techniques. No one put words in her–uh, its–mouth. Instead of reading her advice in books, writers can listen to the resurrected author speaking.
The video lasts about 10 minutes but only a few seconds show AI Agatha in action. The majority of the time is spent describing the process that the producers, directors, lighting techs, hairdressers, costumers, and others went through to give an accurate depiction. A human actress combined with AI resulted in an animated life-like Agatha.
Here’s the video:
The AI Agatha course is sold via the BBC Maestro program. It can be purchased by single episode or subscription. The description is at this link.
I’m interested to hear what TKZers think of this revolutionary concept. Please share your opinions in the comments.
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I’m with you, Debbie, coming away from the YouTube viewing with mixed thoughts. To their credit, the BBC and the foundation strived to remain faithful to Agatha Christie. However, will the AI display of her likeness offer anything more than delivering the carefully researched lessons? If yes, then maybe it’s something I’d enjoy. My mischievous mind flipped over to the dark side, pondering how quickly an enterprising person will buy the program, run the lessons through another AI application, and then sell the ability to produce Agatha Christie novels with a minimal number of prompts. Time will tell whether the AI display adds to or takes away from learning. I’ll skip the gimmicks, go to the source, and trust my notes over Google’s AI summaries.
Grant, my mind immediately flipped to the dark side, too. I can certainly imagine get-rich-quick schemers turning this concept into a sleazy profit opportunity.
The abuse potential of AI is limitless and, at this stage of the game, there are no guardrails to prevent misuse and abuse.
I don’t trust AI summaries either. Unfortunately many people believe them w/o fact-checking themselves and that’s one way misinformation spreads.
What would Dame Agatha think? I can see her chuckling as her imagination turns this development into a compelling mystery.
Debbie, I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and it prompted my Sunday post. I was at first amazed that they took what, a year and a half, to put this together? The melding of actress and the “real” Agatha was “ameepy” (I’m combining amazing and creepy). Still, the idea of sitting at the feet of Dame Agatha seemed attractive.
Then I saw that the course is only 2.5 hours. What? How much instruction can you get in that time (says someone whose Great Courses course is 24 half hour lectures)? So I started researching and found that AC gave out very little writing advice in her lifetime. What I found of value was the description of her process in her autobiography, and evidence of same in her “secret notebooks.”
Since this project had the full cooperation of the estate, I’m not outraged by it. I just question how much value there is in it. (Now, what if AI Agatha started riffing off script? There’s a story! I once wrote a story about an AI-hologram John Wayne refusing to say stupid lines in a script…)
Jim, thanks so much for adding this important information! I did not dig that deeply into the course content.
Teaching requires a much different skill set than writing. It’s the ability to break down abstract concepts and translate them into understandable terms for the student. You’re the master at that.
Teaching probably didn’t even enter Agatha’s mind.
I totally agree with going directly to the sources like her autobiography and secret notebooks.
I remember your John Wayne story well! Terrific irony!
I find it all unsettling, Debbie. The other day I got a notification from YouTube that stated Teddy Swims (whom I love) had a new song out. When I clicked the video, I realized someone stole his voice and mixed it through AI (or however it’s done). Parts did indeed sound like him. Other parts weren’t even close. Commenters were outraged. And so was I. Why steal a vocalist’s voice? Or anybody’s for that matter.
Cuz there’s big money in theft, Sue. 😉
The notification you received probably earned a bunch of money from clicks. No production, no skill, no talent involved, except the ability to dupe people into thinking there’s a valid product at the other end.
A lot of someones who produce nothing are getting rich off the efforts and sweat of creators.
I just noticed a creepy thing happening.
Normally when someone leaves a comment on a TKZ post, a notification ding is sent to the post’s author saying there’s a new comment.
With today’s post, when notifications of new comments are sent to me, there’s an AI summary of what the comment says before the actual comment appears.
I don’t mean for this to sound creepy, but I noticed when I read your post at five when I was barely awake that you have villain and villian on your book cover. Maybe it’s on purpose?
I also researched the BBC course, and agree with JSB. I took his course and it was comprehensive. It was probably very expensive for BBC to produce the class, and they are relying on name recognition to sell it. What I saw was amazing, but I wouldn’t buy it.
Hahaha, Becky! Who knows what lurks in the evil minds of writers?
Name recognition is definitely a key selling point. However, for excellent content JSB can’t be beat.
Weird indeed, Debbie. I wonder if the word AI in the title caused the AI at Google provide AI summaries? I’m not a fan of AI summaries, despite the fact that Amazon’s AI generated review summary of my first novel only includes the glowing reviews 🙂
Amazon’s AI summaries of my books are also glowing. Guess we can’t complain about that aspect.
Wow, Debbie, I had no idea this had occured. An AI simulacrum of the Queen of Mystery teaching a (very short) course on writing mysteries strikes me as creepy and dystopic, but also par for the course for our science fictional present. Granted, her estate approved it, but, as Jim observed, I have to wonder how much value is there in a 2.5 hour summary of mystery writing craft.
Rather, it’s all about the science fictional sense of wonder generated by the AI simulacrum of Christie “teaching” a video course and how much she might look and sound like the grandmaster, who passed in 1976.
I find AI deeply anti-human, and see little value in such a “course.” Dame Agatha wasn’t a writing teacher. Far better to take Jim’s Great Courses class on writing best-selling fiction.
“Deeply anti-human” is exactly right, Dale. As if society isn’t already depersonalized enough. Give me flesh and blood, warts and all.
Okay, this is getting weirder and weirder. Below are quotes of the AI summaries that precede several comments:
Jim: “questions value of 2.5 hour course.”
“Debbie agrees with direct source approach.”
Debbie: “argues notification earns money from clicks.”
“Debbie noticed AI summaries before comment notification on TKZ post.”
Dale: “criticizes AI writing courses.”
“Becky agrees with JSB on BBC course.”
Then the summaries stop and are not included in the rest of the comments.
Curiouser and curiouser.
And the notification of the above comment: “AI summaries missing from comments, see full comments.”
Wow, Debbie! That’s so creepy and strange.
“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Bingo!
😂😂😂
This is deeply disturbing to me. I want nothing to do with it, don’t even want to look at it.
If I could be sure that bad guys would not use AI for bad stuff, it’d be different. But we all know that they will, like so many other fascinating and helpful techy inventions.
I’m so closed-minded about it that I mostly refuse to use self check outs in the stores, because I want a face-to-face transaction with a human, not a face-to-screen interaction.
It’s just a line I don’t want to cross and I refuse to apologize for it. I guess someday someone will drag me across that line, right?
Hope you have an AI-free day!
(And btw, what about that “Villains/Villians” book cover, Debbie?) 🙂
No apologies necessary, Deb. I also find these developments deeply disturbing. Pandora’s Box comes to mind.
Wishing you an AI-free day, too!
Deb, just saw the AI summary about your comment: “disturbed by AI; wants nothing to do with it.”
Your opinion has been duly noted…by somebody.
I hope that I, too, eventually achieve the kind of fame that encourages mountebanks to use my virtual corpse to disappoint new generations.
Robert, what a great attitude! Thanks for a much-needed laugh.
😂😂😂
Mountebanks…love that word!
Singularly well-put!
I’ve never liked seeing people cash in on the fame of a dead person. It’s even creepier when AI is involved.
I’m not sure which is more concerning, the AI Agatha or the AI summaries of the comments you’re getting!
Right, Kay! Keeping someone’s memory and legacy alive is one thing. Making a buck off it is something else.
Those comment summaries creeped me out, too.
I’ll be sure to put this down as one more thing I don’t want my literary executor to allow.
Good idea, Marilynn.
I wonder what Dame Agatha would think of this.
“I wonder what Dame Agatha would think of this…”
I foresee a book, written by “Marie Eastmacott,” in which the victim is an AI developer who is done away with in an interesting fashion, and the detective is an AI character named Maximilian Kopfraum. SPOILER ALERT: The murderer is the AI program itself, which found a way to . . . but ya has ta read the book.
J, I know just the writer for the job!
I will have to say they did an amazing job with the actress. But like you, I think I’ll go to the source. Strike that. I know I will go to the source and the comment summaries are downright creepy.
Pat, the AI summary came back on for your comment: “will go to source.”
Maybe I’m imagining it but do you detect a tiny tone of pique that you’re going to the source rather than trusting it? 😉
Colossus is working overtime this morning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus%3A_The_Forbin_Project
Whoa, Dale, I never heard of that film. Sounds scary good. Interesting that a remake has been in the works for years with Ron Howard and Will Smith, plus other “names” yet has never come out.
I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Vivien Keene.