CO-HOST | Make Money by Staying Human: The Hidden Cost of AI Replacing Creativity

Summary

Travis Makes Money – June 15, 2026

Episode: Make Money by Staying Human: The Hidden Cost of AI Replacing Creativity
Host: Travis Chappell
Guest/Co-host: Eric (Producer)

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Episode Overview

In this candid episode, Travis and his producer Eric dive deep into the intrusive rise of AI in creative industries, especially focusing on the ethical, financial, and emotional implications when technology resurrects artists and celebrities posthumously. While the podcast’s usual mission is to empower listeners to make more money, this episode centers on where and how that money is made—and questions whether some profits come at the cost of our humanity and creativity.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. AI, Likeness Licensing & the News about Stan Lee ([01:13] – [03:55])

• Eric brings distressing news: 11 Labs has struck a deal to license the voice and likeness of the late Stan Lee, allowing his AI recreation to narrate books and appear in comics, long after his death.

  • Eric: "AI 11 Labs, Satan's company licenses Marvel legends voice and likeness. The AI generated version of the Marvel legend who died in 2018 can read books and users can generate ... his likeness in comics inspired visual templates." ([01:57])

• Travis immediately identifies the profit motive, noting that Stan Lee's family is "probably making some...dough on that." ([02:29]) but Eric reacts strongly against what he sees as a commodification of a human life and legacy.

• Memorable Quote:

  • Eric: "Human beings are not ip. Say it with me. Corpses are not ip." ([03:09])

2. Moral and Artistic Boundaries ([03:13] – [07:34])

• Eric details similar cases—11 Labs previously did this with Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, Val Kilmer's estate, and even living figures like David Hasselhoff and Michael Caine. He expresses deep discomfort, especially regarding icons who were "chewed up and spit out by Hollywood" like Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe ([04:37]).

• The episode raises pointed questions about the lack of restrictions on posthumous digital recreations.

  • Travis: "Are there use cases that are not allowed and stuff like that? ... can you just make Stan Lee promote like a political race or... a religious institution?" ([04:20])

• Eric and Travis agree it's chilling how fans might not even notice the loss of humanity—and the specialness—when an icon's 'presence' is AI-generated rather than real.

  • Eric: "What made it cool is that it was them, exactly." ([05:27])
  • Travis: "What makes all the cameos in all the Marvel movies cool is that it was actually Stan Lee on set doing that." ([05:32])

3. The Value of Imperfection in Art ([07:57] – [10:10])

• Eric contrasts the soulless perfection of AI-created art with the organic, imperfect moments that make films memorable—like the famous accidental lens flare in Princess Bride.

  • Eric: "What's so cool about movies is the things that don't work perfectly and they make something out of it... when I watch this lifeless... it's a perfect sunset ... yeah, but that's not what I like." ([08:25 - 09:07])

• Travis shares a story from author Jack Carr about how film adaptations must work within creative and logistical constraints, which leads to unique outcomes—a process threatened by unlimited AI creation. ([09:25])

4. Identity & Creativity vs. Computational Copying ([10:16] – [12:56])

• Eric laments the flattening effect of AI, where iconic roles and personalities become fanfic mashups rather than unique artistic interpretations.

  • Eric: "AI is like this amalgamation of here's a bunch of shitty fan fiction and celebrity takes. And like it's not creating it..." ([11:24])

• He fiercely critiques the AI industry's narrative:

  • Eric: "His voice, his image, his love of storytelling, eleven Labs gives us a way to keep that alive and in fans hands in a way that's true—even that I'm like, is it his storytelling or is it in fans hands where I can say whatever I want?" ([12:21])

5. Nuanced Views of AI’s Utility ([11:46] – [13:43])

• While Eric rails against AI in creative spaces, he acknowledges the value of AI for research, data parsing, and similar tasks—making a clear distinction between augmenting human productivity and replacing artistic effort.

  • Eric: "If you need to parse through a thousand pages of documents ... and you can go send me bullet points... [that's] great. When you're saying...write me 900 pages of slop that's stealing from other people's stuff. That...is just so disgusting and gross." ([11:46–12:21])

• Notable quote, paraphrased:

  • Eric: "The biggest problem with AI is people." ([13:38])

6. Final Rants: Who is Responsible? ([14:02] – [15:49])

• The hosts facetiously suggest Hollywood would even digitally resurrect animals ("they would probably get the dead horse and get its likeness" [13:13]).

• Eric openly hopes for the failure of 11 Labs, sarcastically calling them "six six six labs" and unleashing a string of biting analogies comparing the company to the devil ([14:53]).

• The founders of 11 Labs are named and shamed (in jest), with Eric expressing disappointment they’re his "own people" (meaning, fellow Poles), skewering the profit-over-ethics ethos.

7. Wrapping Up: Existential Questions and Dark Humor ([16:16] – [18:43])

• Travis acknowledges Eric's passion, stating, "I feel exactly the same way that you feel, but a little bit less."

• The conversation closes with black humor about generating AI versions of themselves after death, hinting at the ultimate absurdity and invasiveness of the technology.

  • Eric: "I'm going to write it in my will that you have to keep doing a show with AI Travis."
  • Eric: "I will end my own life to not do that." ([17:56])
  • Eric: "They could make me say, you don't have opinions. I love it." ([18:14])
  • Travis: "How about more cp, cbd, and less CPU in our artistic process, huh?" ([18:38])

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "Human beings are not ip. Say it with me. Corpses are not ip."
  Eric, [03:09]

• "What made it cool is that it was them, exactly."
  Eric, [05:27]

• "That's what we're talking to Jack Carr about ... The story's being expressed by two wildly different mediums and... it's going to have to change because there are restrictions."
  Travis, [09:25]

• "AI is like this amalgamation of here's a bunch of shitty fan fiction and celebrity takes. And like it's not creating it..."
  Eric, [11:24]

• "Six six six labs. Because you're of your father, the devil."
  Eric, [14:53]

• "The biggest problem with AI is people."
  Eric, [13:38]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Stan Lee & AI Announcement / Main Topic Starts: [01:15]
• Discussion of Consent and Restrictions: [04:20]–[07:34]
• Movie-making, Imperfection, and Creativity: [07:57]–[10:10]
• Critique of AI in Arts vs. Useful AI Applications: [11:46]–[13:43]
• Rant on 11 Labs & The Problem of Profit Motive: [14:02]–[15:49]
• Endnote, Dark Humor about AI Hosts: [17:52]–[18:43]

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Conclusion

This episode serves as both a warning and a rallying cry for creative professionals and fans alike: the relentless march of AI into human creative domains risks not just lost jobs, but a profound erosion of meaning, authenticity, and legacy. Travis and Eric urge listeners to distinguish between using AI to enhance life and wealth, versus letting AI erase the irreplaceable quirks, imperfections, and humanity that make art—and money-making—genuinely worthwhile.

Final Note:
Eric’s passionate, sometimes darkly comic outrage is both a defense of human creativity and a reminder that not all money is worth making if it costs us our souls—or the souls of our cultural icons.

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Transcript

[Announcer]

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[Eric]

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[Travis]

You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by gohighlevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's mission to help you make more money. On this episode of the show, my producer Eric is in studio and he delivered some terrible news to me, which is why I'm in a somber, somber mood.

[Eric]

No, I didn't.

[Travis]

Yes, you did.

[Eric]

No, I didn't.

[Travis]

Yeah, you did. Tom Hardy getting fired from Mobland is terrible news.

[Eric]

Sorry, buddy. Okay, well, I'm about to give you some even more terrible news. You want more?

[Travis]

It's probably not as bad as that. Try me.

[Eric]

I have a brain tumor. That'd be crazy if you're like, yeah, but Tom Hardy.

[Travis]

Yeah, but you. But have you seen Mob Lane?

[Eric]

Okay, this is, this is. This is. Honestly, you know how I love AI, Generative AI specifically. I'm like, that's the part I like the most.

[Travis]

I'm a big fan.

[Eric]

I love. I love using AI for things other than just researching through data. I like it to also take over the arts.

[Travis]

Yeah, yeah. You're always telling me how much.

[Eric]

I'm a big advocate for that.

[Travis]

Really searching and hoping that it happens.

[Eric]

Okay, here's the news. This is from Variety, May 27, 2026. I saw this last night and I screamed and I cracked my mirror and I screamed into the mirror. The fragments of glass fell down to the counter and I looked in the mirror and I screamed.

[Travis]

Thanks for the vivid picture.

[Eric]

Stan Lee returns under AI pact 11 Labs licenses Marvel's legend or see. AI could never do that. AI 11 Labs, Satan's company licenses Marvel legends voice and likeness. The AI generated version of the Marvel legend who died in 2018 can read books and users can generate. Sorry, I almost threw up. And users can generate his likeness in comics inspired visual templates.

[Travis]

What? That's upsetting. I mean, it's for the family. They're probably making some. Oh yeah, making some dough on that.

[Eric]

I'll make sure when you die that we put you on a dolly and we roll your corpse around.

[Travis]

Okay.

[Eric]

And let people puppeteer it for a couple bucks.

[Travis]

Okay.

[Eric]

Give me a couple tokens and I'll let you lift his arm. Give me some more tokens. We'll put. You can put your hand up his ass and work him like a puppet. It's the other guy's reference. Actually.

[Travis]

It is.

[Eric]

Marvel Comics has long resurrected iconic characters for second acts. This is not the same thing. And this is not. Human beings are not ip. Say it with me. Corpses are not ip.

[Travis]

But they kind of are though.

[Eric]

But they're not like this.

[Travis]

Michael Jackson made like $100 million last year.

[Eric]

Now 11 Lives is doing the same for Marvel's most famous creator, Stan Lee. In a sense. The AI audio company on Wednesday said it struck an expansive deal with the Stanley Universe, the joint venture between Genius Brands International and PAL Entertainment to add the late Marvel Comics writers voice and likeness to the 11 Labs iconic marketplace, its collection of celebrity personality voices and likenesses that companies can license for commercial use. You know what they never tell you about legends? The AI generated version of Stan Lee says in a video released by 11 Labs they outlived the page. You know what's especially unfortunate about this is that Stanley in the end of his life was being taken advantage of by caretakers. And this just feels like now everyone gets. Yeah, I don't know that.

[Travis]

Yeah, I mean it makes sense.

[Eric]

There was a lot of like, unfortunately it makes sense caretaker abuse stuff happening with him. And it's like now it's like that someone can just be like here. Yeah, you can use him for whatever purposes you want.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

And it's not like even like a movie where it's like, oh, he died while we were shooting this and we're finished commercial. It's like now this 16 year old idiot can be like, make Stan Lee say xyz. You know?

[Travis]

Yeah, that feels really strange. Yeah, they don't have any, like are there use cases that are like not allowed and stuff like that? I have to imagine that has to exist.

[Eric]

I mean, I don't know, like can

[Travis]

you just make Stan Lee promote like a political race or I don't know, a religious institution?

[Eric]

I don't know. But the, but I mean this isn't the first time they've done this. Eleven Labs has also done stuff with Michael Caine who's living different but Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, David Hasselhoff alive, Albert Einstein. Val Kilmer's estate. We talked about this recently. Allowed. But it's like. It's like. Like. Well, to me, I'm like, it is. It's especially bothersome to me when it's someone like Judy Garland, where it's like. It's like, that's someone who was chewed up and spit out by Hollywood. And it's like, now in perpetuity, or Marilyn Monroe or all. It's like. It's like, what are we doing? What are we doing?

[Travis]

What are we doing?

[Eric]

I don't want to be that gu. But it just feels so gross. And it's also, like, it bothers me from the consumer standpoint, where people see that and they're like, oh, this is so cool. And I'm like, what made it cool is that it was them exactly.

[Travis]

What makes all the cameos in all the Marvel movies cool is that it was actually Stan Lee on set doing that.

[Eric]

It's not his corpse. And I hate to be that morose, but it's true. It's like, you're puppeteering. It's like, Catch Reeves, you're puppeteering this dude's corpse across the screen. And I'm supposed to be like, oh, my God.

[Announcer]

More.

[Eric]

Make more.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Eric]

I don't know.

[Travis]

That even feels wor. Like, even with some of, like, the Star wars stuff that we've seen, it's just. Those feel different because even. Even some of them are, like, still alive. They're just CGI ing a younger face or something like that.

[Eric]

But even that, though, I'm like, years ago, we would watch movies. Back in my day, we'd watch movies, and they would just cast a child actor or they would cast a different actor in the same role. And I never sat there and was like, that's not them. Yeah. Like, to me, even that. It's like, it just feels. It just feels like, so performance. I've never seen it. I've never seen it where I'm like, that improved the story to have it be like, even the Mandalorian, like, we've talked about, it's like. And it's very different. Again, Mark Hamill's on set. He's working with an actor. They're doing the stuff, like, whatever, you know, and there's a place maybe for it in certain moments, and it's like,

[Travis]

express permission to do that thing.

[Eric]

Yeah. That, to me, is huge. Even more than an estate. Like, I think it's weird. Estates can be like, yeah, take Marilyn Monroe and do whatever. You know, Take Elvis and do whatever but even with that, though, as a fan, like, to me, it's cool enough to just be like, oh, I see the iconography I associate with the character. It could be a different actor that looks so much like him, you know, but when it comes to someone who's passed, like, Stan Lee died in 20, 18, 95 years old, like, he does it. Like, who is to say what he would have wanted to happen with his likeness, you know? And like I said, I don't know what restrictions there are.

[Travis]

Well, it gets weirder when you start literally putting words in their mouth.

[Eric]

What if I wrote DC fan fiction and I'm like, let me have Stan Lee read this story.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Eric]

You know, like, there's so many.

[Travis]

Yeah. I would hope that there's at least some sort of, like, protection around what he can say or not say.

[Eric]

I hate it, Travis.

[Travis]

But even in, like, like, the Valkyrie Val Kilmer thing that you're showing me, like, there's a difference, too, in, oh, this per. Like, this is being presented as an actor taking on a role who, who

[Eric]

knows if they would have chose that role?

[Travis]

Who knows if they would have chosen it? Who knows how they would have played it?

[Eric]

Would they have cursed?

[Travis]

Like, again, it feels different to me than, like, Leia at the end of Rogue One being different. Hope, you know, and that's the only thing that just.

[Eric]

But also too past had already approved it. Like, yeah, we're, you know, it's just different. And I, I, I just feel so, like, blow about a lot of this stuff. I don't know. I mean, I just don't. To me, it's a rumor, bro. I don't know. To me. Well, to me, it just, it's. What's the matter? I was thinking about this even with production, because you always see the post where it's like, Hollywood is shaking in their boots after I generated this. And it's like, it is literally like, the crappiest thing you've ever seen in your entire life. But even the stuff that looks good, I'm like, I'm like, part of what's cool about movies is the things that they did in spite of it not being perfect. And the way that they. That came out when Rob Reiner died, there was the moment where just an iconic shot in Princess Bride where she's running a. She's riding the horse across the sunset. I don't know if I showed you that clip. And he hated the shot, but it became one of the most famous shots in the movie because it's beautiful. Lens flare and Artistically didn't want that to happen, but they just couldn't restrict it on the day. And it's like, to me, what's so cool about movies is the things that don't work perfectly and they make something out of it. And I feel like when I watch this, like, lifeless, like, oh, it's a perfect sunset. It's a perfect slow motion shot. It's a perfect action scene. It's like, yeah, but that's not what I like. I like that there's some stuff where it's like, you see the limitations or it doesn't feel perfect.

[Travis]

That's what we're talking to Jack Carr about when he brought up his book being adapted to the big screen, where he's like, well, I didn't have any preconceived notions of what that was gonna look like because I know that the story's being expressed by two wildly different mediums and that it's going to have to change because there are restrictions. There's actor restrictions and budget restrictions and location restrictions and like all these other different things that don't exist when I'm just writing the story on a page for the book. But then they adapt to the screen and they have all these other different obstacles that they have to try to overcome and then present this new thing. And so it feels, yeah, it feels like cheaper just for them to be like, well, we can do all of that because we can just like create it in a AI studio.

[Eric]

Well, here's a good example to tie it to Jack Carr and then to James Bond. But.

[Travis]

But all roads lead to James Bond.

[Eric]

Well, I was following an account and I unfollowed them because they started posting a bunch of AI bs. But it was. It was a James Bond account. And so they were generating images of like, James Bond, true to the Fleming books. And I'm a big James Bond fan and I love every iteration of James Bond. But like, yeah, in the book he's a certain height, he's got a scar on his right cheek, he's got the black hair, he's got this lineage. But I was like, what's cool about James Bond is what each actor brings to it. It's not just, oh, it's the page. Exactly that here it is. It's like Sean Connery's bringing this kind of rough and ruddy kind of approach to it. Roger Moore sees the humor in it. George Lazenby sees kind of this, like, tame emotional core to it. Timothy Dalton's this very rugged, hard edged version. But it's like Pierce Brosnan. It's kind of like playing in the comedic and also like this very suave and Daniel Craig who's like the blunt instrument that kind of. It's like, that's what I want to see is like, I want to watch their interpretation of this. And like AI is like this amalgamation of here's a bunch of shitty fan fiction and celebrity takes. And like it's not creating it, it's just going to. Here's what we think Stan Lee would sound like if he said your weird script that you wrote 20 years later.

[Travis]

Right.

[Eric]

And blah.

[Travis]

Yeah. So 11 labs is the devil is your take.

[Eric]

I honestly would love to see them go bankrupt and lose everything and be sued into oblivion. I hate it. I hate it so much. And you know what? And I hate. One of the things I hate is like there's some people that take the AI thing and it's, it's one of the new causes to be like I hate AI and blah, blah, blah. I think there's so many good things that AI can be used for. In terms of like I've said before, if you need to parse through a thousand pages of documents and it's going to take you three weeks and you can go send me bullet points of like each of these with citations of the page number so I can verify what you're saying.

[Announcer]

Great.

[Eric]

When you're saying like write me 900 pages of slop that's stealing from other people's stuff. That to me is just so disgusting and gross. And they end this. The guy that's the spokesperson for the people that are doing the deal, he says his voice, his image, his love of storytelling, eleven Labs gives us a way to keep that alive and in fans hands in a way that's true even that I'm like, is it his storytelling or is it in fans hands where I can say whatever I want

[Travis]

through this spokesperson for what he would have wanted his voice to be used for.

[Eric]

Say it with me. Yuck.

[Travis]

Okay, but do you have any like hot opinions on this or.

[Eric]

I hate it. I hate it so much. I see these stories all the time. And I try. I limit how many I bring to the table because I don't want to beat a dead horse. But also they would probably get the dead horse and get its likeness.

[Travis]

Can I just say that how much I hate having to caveat everything that you say anymore because it's like that I say no. Just like you express an opinion about how you hate the AIs doing this. But then Every time we talk about it, you feel like you have to be like. But I know that there's a lot of great applications.

[Eric]

The thing is. The thing is the biggest problem with AI is people.

[Travis]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric]

Because it's literally like technology. It's literally. There's this technology that we can use to do advanced research, do this, create, like, parse through cancer eventually. And it's like, how can I make Stan Lee, say, do a cameo for my nephew?

[Travis]

It's just.

[Eric]

Shut up, dude. It's the.

[Travis]

Yeah, opportunistic, capitalistic.

[Eric]

It's Hollywood being like, how do we make a movie and not hire an actor?

[Travis]

Yeah, right.

[Eric]

Like, go take a long walk off a short cliff. You know what I'm saying? Hey, D. You know what I'm saying? Maybe you should wear some cement anklets, you know, take a little walk to the Hudson River. You know?

[Travis]

What is that?

[Eric]

I don't know what it is, but, hey, I couldn't do this. You know what? Oh, I'm sorry, Travis. I'm sorry, Travis. Do you want a perfect mobster voice? Because I'll go to 11 labs right now. Give me 30 tokens and I'll generate. You want Stan Lee to say it? Here, let me get Stan Lee to say that. You can go. Hey, hey. Excelsior. Take a long walk off a short cliff. See? Screw that, man. I hate 11 labs. More like six. Six. Six labs. Because you're of your father, the devil.

[Travis]

Well said.

[Eric]

You generate a prison and put yourself inside of it. How about you generate hell and burn in it for eternity? Eleven Labs. Who's the founder of eleven Labs? I'm going to tweet him from your account. Eleven Labs, CEO or founder. Let's do. Founder was even started by humans. This doesn't even feel human to me.

[Travis]

Yeah, it was probably.

[Eric]

It was probably founded by robots from Skynet. Really, dude?

[Announcer]

Really?

[Travis]

What?

[Eric]

Eleven Labs. Eleven Labs was co founded in 2022 by Matt Stasaniewski. I swear to God, if you're Polish. I'm so sickened of my people for doing this. And Pyotr Dabkowski, head of research, the childhood friends who grew up in Poland created the company to revolutionize AI, audio and voice generation.

[Travis]

It's your own people.

[Eric]

You're disgusting. And you know you know where. He's a former strategist at Palantir. Go do unspeakable things to yourself. You have my blessing. Anyway, you have any thoughts? I mean, thanks for coming on my podcast today, Travis. I really appreciate it.

[Travis]

I was going to say do you have any?

[Eric]

You've been our guest. From my mouth, where can people find you?

[Travis]

I feel 11 labs. I feel exactly the same way that you feel, but a little bit less.

[Eric]

More. I feel more than I feel.

[Travis]

That's not possible.

[Eric]

Hey, computer, generate more rage. Generate more anger. Computer, what is this accent? Today, 11Labs is one of the world's most prominent AI platforms, valued at 11 billion. I want you to take $11 billion. I want you to buy a maximum security prison. I want you to put yourself in it, and I want you to stay in there forever.

[Travis]

Well said.

[Eric]

Well, Brian Johnson will be the guard because he'll be able to guard you forever because he's going to live forever.

[Travis]

I couldn't have said it better myself. Well said. But that's it for this episode. That's it, I think.

[Eric]

Okay. 16 minutes. Oh, let's do a short one today.

[Travis]

Well, I felt like you said everything that needed to be said.

[Eric]

That's the first time you've ever said that. Thank you. Well, you covered it, Eric. Good job.

[Travis]

Yeah, you did. I don't have much to add to that.

[Eric]

Okay, great. See you later.

[Travis]

Because you have stronger feelings about it than I do.

[Eric]

I'm much stronger. Hey, let's talk about the Flash. Hey, let's get Christopher Reeves. Oh, he died. I said get Christopher Reeves. I said get Christopher Reeves. He's. He passed away years ago. Years ago.

[Travis]

Famously.

[Eric]

Get him. Get him. Get him in. Beep, boop, beep, boop. There's Chris for Reeves. Oh, my God. Ip. Wow. All right, well, when this show. You know what, Travis? When you die. You know what I'm not going to do? I'm not going to generate a new Travis when you die. What if that's my wishes when you die? Dude, I just watched Obsession.

[Travis]

I'm going to write it in my will that you have to keep doing a show with AI Travis.

[Eric]

I will end my own life to not do that. All right, but you know what would be better? Let's just end the show. Seriously. For good. This is the last episode. Thanks for the memories. I'm sure that someday someone will generate both of us talking about how we love it.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's true. That's true.

[Eric]

They could make me say, you don't have opinions. I love it.

[Travis]

I'm going to do that, actually. I'm going to look into that. I'm going to.

[Eric]

You know what they say, opinions are like bland celebrity ip that you can repurpose. Everybody does it. Or something. I don't know. Closes out.

[Travis]

That's it for this episode of the show? Where do you get Eric, a little bit of maybe some. Maybe some weed or just cbd just to calm them down? Xanax might do the trick. Something.

[Eric]

How about more cp, cbd, and less CPU in our artistic process, huh?

[Travis]

Okay. All right. Well, that's it for this show. Remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let's start there. Here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you next time. Peace.