Tina Fey Reassures Pros That AI Isn't Funny Yet

Tina Fey provided reassurance and counsel to industry professionals at the Edinburgh TV Festival, including the team launching a UK version of Saturday Night Live. In their joint appearance onstage, Graham Norton told Fey he couldn't see British writers pulling all-nighters the way the New York team does to finish scripts in time for the weekly read-through on Wednesday. "Here's a dirty secret," Fey responded, the BBC reports. "You don't have to do it that way. You could start in the morning."

The former SNL cast member also suggested comedy writers don't need to worry about technology replacing them just yet. "AI can do all sorts of other terrifying things," Fey said, "like writing music but so far, it's unable to be funny." A Sky executive said earlier that the SNL relaunch is exciting but "a little bit scary as well," per Deadline. Phil Edgar-Jones told a festival audience that the new show will be true to the original but will have to also be "a very British thing" to ensure it resonates with UK viewers.