At the 2025 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, artificial intelligence came out of the lab and appeared in the comedy spotlight with an unprecedented display of digital satire. During the “Life with Machines” panel, Emmy-nominated futurist and comedian Balathund de Thurston directed his AI co-producer Blair to roast Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The result was a 50-second takedown, and the audience erupted in laughter and the internet was bustling with reactions. But there was something more serious behind the humor. It is a growing conversation about the evolving role of AI in the boundaries of cultural discourse, media, and entertainment. The event was a crucial moment in understanding not only the festival’s highest point, but how technology redefines the limits of satire and public criticism.
ai will be completely wild ave with Elon Musk with viral SXSW roast
The moment Balatunde Thurston unfolds on stage when Blair clearly gave Blair the clear instructions, “Roast Elon Musk. Regretless.” It was then a poignant monologue comparing Musk to the self-driving Tesla. Humor continued the jabs, including Mask’s intelligence, his business record, and even his family legacy, including his father’s reference to emerald mines.
This delivery was not only sharp and fast-paced, but also completely lacked the kind of filter that is normally applied by human comedians who generally navigate the public sphere. Blair’s algorithm neutrality allowed them to attack directly and efficiently without political attention or reputation concerns. The audience, a mix of technical experts, cultural commentators and festival attendees, responded with a roar.
The SXSW panel uses Elon Musk Roast to explore digital representation
It was the context that made this roast particularly important. Balatunde Thurston has long been known for using humor as a gateway to explore deeper social issues. The SXSW panel, entitled “Life with Machines,” focuses on the role of AI in shaping public life, from ethics to automation, digital justice to comedy.
Thurston is joined by digital anthropologist Rahaf Haush and comedy writer Matt Klinman. Their discussion addressed the possibilities of AI in both civic participation and cultural expression. While entertaining, the roast served as a live case study of how AI can participate, and perhaps a changing attitude commentary.
On social media, Thurston recalled: “We talked about the best and worst of AI, and shared our fears and vision for the future. Yes… we asked Blair to roast Elon Mask in a wild roast.”
From punchlines to provocation: the cultural emergence of AI
This case opens up new considerations about AI as both a creator and a critic. Traditionally, satire has been the realm of human insight and wit, an assertion of social boundaries and political nuances. When AI like Blair enters the scene, the dynamics change. Algorithms trained on large datasets of speech and behavior can now mimic and even raise the art of satire.
Unlike political commentators and late-night hosts who walk down fine lines to avoid backlash, AI can produce sharper, unrestrained critiques. However, this also raises ethical questions about the responsibility, consent and bias of algorithmic humor.
Social Media Reactions
As expected, there was a field day on the internet. The roast clip went viral on platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), with users responding with humor and surprise. “You said mercilessly, and AI went XD everywhere,” one user commented. Another thing is, “The only thing Blair didn’t touch on is the number of kids and baby moms he has without paying child support.” “Here’s a bit of a human. There are so many people who could have done better if they needed someone to humiliate him,” joked another.
Despite the light tone, the responses highlighted the way AI-driven satire resonated across digital audiences and transcended cultural and national boundaries.
Balaton de Thurston’s Vision: Humor as a Civic Technology
It is not without purpose for Balatunde to include AI in her satirical work. He is best known for his bestselling book, “How to Be Be Be Be Be Be and the Podcast.” His goal at SXSW was to show how to use technology to not only optimize systems, but also to enhance dialogue, critique and community engagement.
This AI-driven roast was an extension of that philosophy. This is an effort to rethink how machines participate in democratic discourse, not just as tools and threats, but also as co-creators.
Blair’s abilities and future role
Blair, an AI involved in roasting, was developed specifically for public engagement and creative tasks. Building on a large-scale language model and tweaked for tone recognition, Blair is designed to work with human hosts on live shows, podcasts and educational events. The ability to handle humor, satire and sensitive topics while maintaining audience engagement is part of the ongoing research into ethical AI communication.
Thurston has revealed that Blair is trained in decades of stand-up routines, political commentary and journalistic editorials, developing informed and impactful voices. Importantly, Blair is run by editorial supervision. In other words, the content is curated and refined with the help of human collaborators.
