Seinfeld is a show about nothing. It knows this, its characters let the audience know this. But couldn’t a show about nothing go on forever?

That’s the aim of Nothing, Forever, an AI-Generated “TV Show” streamed on Twitch 24/7 since December 2022. The show takes direct inspiration from Seinfeld, with the visual settings being almost 1:1 to the inspired show’s. The characters are parodies of Seinfeld’s, with Larry Feinberg as Jerry, Fred as George, Yvonne as Elaine, and Kakkler as Kramer. The show is computer-animated in a classic, pixely-geometric style, and voice acted by AI.

The script itself is always a mystery. The group will discuss anything from a new restaurant opening up down the street, to Fred getting a new job or trying standup comedy, to one of the friends going on vacation. They’ve even delved into some more serious topics, such as government financial shutdowns, what they believe happens after death, or the future of AI itself.

The project began as something of an experiment in both audience engagement and AI generated content, with characters’ scripts being affected by what the audience types in the livestream’s chat. With over 14,000 concurrent viewers at its peak, audience engagement became a pivotal part of the show’s content.

Whenever the characters would discuss something like a “new restaurant opening up down the street,” the chat would break out in hysterics over it, egging them on. Same goes for whenever a character would use a microwave, get a new job, discuss a vacation, or anything else that viewers found funny or simply repeatable.

These patterns that some characters, and the show itself, would end up exhibiting would become staples – Larry’s (Jerry’s) stand-up sets beginning and ending in “Hello!”s and “Goodbye!”s. Yvonne (Elaine) being the voice of reason. Fred (George) getting a new job, or attempting to commit to perform a stand-up set. The microwave, being loudly used by any one of the cast members. The laugh track, going once, twice, three times.

It wasn’t just some big, practical joke, either. Some viewers would launch commands in chat to see how long they had been watching for – the answers could range from 30 minutes to ten hours. It became clear that, while at times stupid or nonsensical, the show, especially with the group chat aspect, was captivating for viewers.

However, at a certain point, the AI began to break down, going from showing a silent stand-off between Larry and Fred for nearly 5 minutes to, eventually, having Larry launch into a transphobic rant on-stage during one of his stand-up segments. This would lead to the stream being banned for 14 days, with many wondering how – or why – this happened.

According to the Discord server for the stream, one of the owners confirmed that issues with their more stable AI forced them to move to a less stable build, which is how the slip occurred. Despite the accidental and random nature of the incident, the ban will stand until February 20, 2023, when, presumably, the stream will come back online as it was.

The fact that the show was taken as seriously as it was raises questions, like how this affects the future of television – and entertainment – as a whole. If people feel as though shows nowadays consist of recycled ideas as is, then why not let AI create content with those recycled ideas?