Could a software version of the late Sir Michael Parkinson deliver a “better” interview than the man himself?

This is the prospect being raised by the producers of a new podcast series that will see an “AI Sir Michael” interviewing guests over eight episodes. Named Virtually Parkinson, it is an example of the growing AI entertainment sector, in which the voices of people are cloned by artificial intelligence and then used in films, television documentaries and on radio.

Parkinson’s son, Mike, who is behind the project, said it was not an attempt to replace his father but rather bring his talents to new audiences, which the pair talked about before the death of the broadcaster last year, aged 88.

He said they also discussed AI: “Like all his generation, he was a bit ‘[AI] can never replace humans’.

“I said, ‘It’s not going to replace humans, but it has an application’.”

The AI Parkinson has been trained on 2,000 of his human counterpart’s interviews with guests ranging from Muhammad Ali to David Bowie and Rod Hull and Emu.

As the team prepared for the series, something interesting emerged: the AI is a rather good interviewer.

Benjamin Field, the founder and executive producer of Deep Fusion Films, which created the clone, said: “What happens is that the interviewee ends up giving far more away than they thought they would. It’s a much deeper process, because they’re not confronted by another human. They don’t feel like they’re being judged. They just feel like they’re being, you know, explored.”

Mike Parkinson added: “Because [the AI] can’t take visual cues — at the moment it exists purely as an audio entity — it has incredible listening ability. It listens so intently that you cannot get away with anything. And obviously it’s got a capacity for massive research and massive knowledge about the person [it] is interviewing.

“In many ways it made me halfsmile, because it [demonstrated] the two tenets of what my father based his interviewing style on: do your research ... and listen.”

The creators of Virtually Parkinson, to be released later this year, have been keen to address the ethics of the project, stressing that the presenter’s estate has given its consent.

They have learnt from the missteps of others, including the director Morgan Neville, who provoked a backlash by using an AI voice of the late chef Anthony Bourdain in the documentary Roadrunner without telling the audience. Neville said this week the move was like a “landmine” and that he has not used AI since.

Stars including Robert Downey Jr have already fired legal warning shots. The Iron Man actor said last week that he intended to sue any film executives who create AI versions of him after his death. When it was pointed out that he would not be around to sue, he replied: “But my law firm will still be very active.”

Others such as Tom Hanks have said they are willing to sanction an AI version of themselves to perform after their death.

Newly cloned AI voices of dead stars are being sanctioned by their estates all the time. One of the companies developing the software needed, the Ukrainian-based firm Respeecher, will soon release a clone of Stan Lee, the Marvel creator, for use in creative projects. The company has also reproduced Orson Welles, James Earl Jones — the actor who voiced Darth Vader — and Edith Piaf.

Alex Serdiuk, Respeecher’s chief executive, claimed projects such as Virtually Parkinson were “extremely important for ... humanity” as they “bring history back to life”.

It is unclear yet whether the public is willing to accept these AI clones, which remain experimental. Ironically, Hanks has been on the receiving end of scathing reviews this week for his latest film, Here, in which he is de-aged using AI along with his costar Robin Wright.

Henry Ajder, an expert on AI deepfakes, said: “Is this actually something people want? Is this something that people are uncomfortable with because it’s new, it’s different. Or is it because it’s genuinely not very good, or that they think it’s genuinely ethically wrong?”