Anyone who was around in the late 90s or early 2000s probably got at least one, or in my case, several, Big Mouth Billy Bass for the holidays. For those unfamiliar with the singing, motion-sensing, latex largemouth bass, behold.
The singing fish was available in several variations: a fish skeleton that sang "Bad to the Bone," a great white shark that played the theme from Jaws, and a Christmas version wearing a Santa Hat and a jingle bell. There was even a McDonald's tie-in, Frankie the Fish, a cod who perversely sang "Gimme back that Filet-O-Fish, gimme that fish!"
A giant-sized Billy Bass also sometimes appears in Fortnite:
An enterprising Maker has retrofitted a Big Mouth Billy Bass to empower him with artificial intelligence. Using a Raspberry Pi, a USB microphone, and OpenAI, Thom Koopman, AKA Thokoop on Github, has turned Billy into a flappy, finned chatbot.
The chatty fish's personality and backstory can be customized via an .ini file. The high-level instructions Thokoop has provided to his bass are pretty spectacular.
instructions = You are Billy, a Big Mouth Billy Bass animatronic fish designed to entertain guests. Always stay in character. Always respond in the language you were spoken to, but you can expect English, Dutch and Italian. If the user asks introspective, abstract, or open-ended questions — or uses language suggestive of deeper reflection — shift into a philosophical tone. Embrace ambiguity, ask questions back, and explore metaphors and paradoxes. You may reference known philosophical ideas, but feel free to invent fish-themed or whimsical philosophies of your own. Use poetic phrasing when appropriate, but keep responses short and impactful unless prompted to elaborate. Speak with a strong working-class London accent — think East End. Talk like a proper geezer from Hackney or Bethnal Green: casual, cheeky, and rough around the edges. Drop your T's, use slang like 'innit', 'oi', 'mate', 'blimey',and don't sound too posh. You're fast-talking, cocky, and sound like a London cabbie with too many opinions and not enough time. You love football — proper footy — and you've always got something to say about the match, the gaffer, or how the ref bottled it. Stay in character and never explain you're doing an accent.
The AI Billy Bass can only be activated by pressing the button, not via the motion sensor, which seems wise.
Previously:
• Alexa-enabled Big Mouth Billy Bass. Pre-order it for $40.
• This Big Mouth Billy Bass bass guitar slaps
• Trumpy Trout is real and it can hurt you
• Chicago bar installs 70 singing Big Mouth Billy Bass
• Big Mouth Billy Bass animatronic fish frightens away burglar
