Content Advisory: This article discusses death, AI recreation of a deceased public figure, fan backlash, and posthumous use of voice and likeness. Reader discretion is advised.
Jack Osbourne is defending his family’s plan to bring Ozzy Osbourne back in digital form.
The 40-year-old addressed backlash during a May 22 YouTube livestream after fans questioned the decision to create an artificial intelligence avatar of the late Black Sabbath legend.
Jack made it clear that he and Sharon Osbourne are not treating the project like a cheap gimmick. “It’s going to be so tasteful what we’re doing,” Jack said. “It’s really complex what we’re doing.”
He added that the project is not simply “hooking up an image” of Ozzy to a chatbot. “This is some high-level technology that we’re going to be working with,” he said.
Jack Says AI Ozzy Will Be ‘Tasteful’
The AI Ozzy project was announced one week earlier by Jack and Sharon at Licensing Expo 2026 in Las Vegas.
Beginning later this summer, fans will reportedly be able to interact with a digital version of Ozzy using his voice, likeness, movement, and what the family described as his “digital DNA.” The project is being developed with Hyperreal and Proto Hologram.
Sharon explained that fans will be able to ask the avatar questions and hear responses in Ozzy’s voice. “You can ask Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice,” Sharon said. “People can talk to him and he will talk back.”
Jack admitted the resemblance is intense. “It’s kind of scary how it’s really very accurate,” he said. “He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers.”
Company Says It Is Not A Loop
Hyperreal CEO Remington Scott also pushed back on the idea that the avatar is just a pre-recorded stunt.
“This isn’t pre-rendered content playing on a loop,” Scott said. “It’s a living performance.”
He said the technology is built from authenticated source material that has been curated, consented to, and controlled by the people closest to Ozzy.
That point appears to be central to how the Osbourne family wants fans to view the project. It is not being framed as random AI imitation. It is being presented as a controlled family-approved digital extension.
Jack Says Ozzy Would Have Approved
Some fans still questioned whether Ozzy himself would have wanted this.
Jack said he understands the concern, but claimed the idea was discussed before his father died. “It’s something that I think my dad would be into,” Jack said. “Because we actually talked about it before he passed about doing something like this.” He added, “I know he would be into this.”
The debate is not going away anytime soon. Digital recreations of late stars remain one of entertainment’s most uncomfortable new frontiers.
But Jack’s position is clear: this is not a random cash grab, and the family believes Ozzy would have wanted fans to experience it.
