Tina Fey Shares the Surprising Human Trait She Believes AI Can Never Replicate

Is AI truly the death knell for comedy, or is it just waiting in the punchline wings, nervously clutching a digital cue card? Sitting at the crossroads of pop culture and technology at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Tina Fey—yeah, the same Tina who made “I want to go to there” a catchphrase—spilled her thoughts on robots, writers, and what happens when algorithms try to be funny. While musicians might be sweating as AI bands scale the Spotify charts, Fey seems almost unfazed, dropping the kind of one-liner only someone who’s survived the SNL writers’ room could deliver: “AI can do all sorts of other terrifying things, like writing music, but so far, it’s unable to be funny.” That’s both a relief and a challenge. Will the rise of our silicon-brained overlords finally nail a decent “30 Rock”-style joke, or will comedy stay the last bastion of the gloriously flawed human mind? Trust Fey to flip the script—and possibly the whole conversation—on its head. LEARN MORE

Actress and writer Tina Fey has made a bold claim about AI’s future this week.

The American entertainer attended the Edinburgh TV Festival and spoke to the audience on the final day (22 August) about a range of topics.

Fey, best known for her roles in 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, the 55-year-old spoke about the future of the entertainment industry and how things might look as AI starts to get more involved with the creation of art.

It has been able to create ‘original’ music in recent times that is indistinguishable to human-made tunes, so much so that an AI band rose to the top of the Spotify charts.

All of which has left film and TV writers understandably worried, with their jobs potentially on the line.

However, it looks like Fey isn’t afraid of AI taking over the world of TV and film.

Tina Fey (left) is considered an SNL legend (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Speaking to the audience, she claimed: “AI can do all sorts of other terrifying things, like writing music but so far, it’s unable to be funny.”

Ironically, back in 2023 in the middle of the Hollywood writers’ strike, the Hollywood Reporter gave ChatGPT the following prompt: “Write a 30 Rock script about Liz Lemon, Two-fer, Lutz and Frank going on strike and how it impacted TGS.”

The result was decidedly not funny, so it seems like Fey may be on to something here.

Fey has recently been praised for her co-creating hit Netflix series The Four Seasons, which has recently been renewed for a second season.

Based on the 1981 film of the same name, it follows the relationships between three married couples and how things change when one of the couples prepares for a divorce.

The comedy writer also spoke more on the UK adaptation of Saturday Night Live, which was announced back in April.

Creator Lorne Michaels is set to executive produce the show, as a British version of the long-running sketch show will soon be on our screens.

Speaking about how American writers would stay up all night the day before the read through, Graham Norton pointed out that Brits simply wouldn’t do that.

“Here’s a dirty secret. You don’t have to do it that way. You could start in the morning,” Fey replied.

Fey is continuing to make strides in the TV world (Getty/Taylor Hill)

She also spoke about the time former prime minister David Cameron asked to meet her to speak about British shows.

“I got this call from someone at NBC that said if you could come into Rockefeller Centre, David Cameron is here and has requested to meet you,” she recalled.

“He was the current prime minister. Turned out all it was, was he wanted to meet me and say hi.”

Despite an invite to visit the UK and its comedy writers from Cameron himself, she turned the offer down.

She explained that he wanted her to convince them to make ‘hundreds of episodes’ instead of the six to 12 that many shows from British shores stick to per season.

Fey admitted: “And I was like I cannot, because we all want to do it the way they do it, be Ricky Gervais and be like ‘Remember that time I made 12 half-hours’. That’s the lifestyle.”