BBC Staff Challenge Boss After He Calls AI Doctor Who 'Pretty Good'
BBC staff have taken their new boss to task over an AI-made Doctor Who.
Director-general Matt Brittin, the BBC's top editorial boss, faced pointed questions at a staff town hall on Wednesday after telling an industry conference that a 50-minute AI-generated episode was "pretty good."
Brittin made the original remark at the Royal Television Society London Convention last week. He said somebody had sent him the 50-minute AI-generated Doctor Who episode "the other day," according to CultBox. He described it as pretty good.
Staff noticed. The room voted with clicks.
One question posted for the town hall asked Brittin to rethink his fascination with AI-generated programmes. It noted that Doctor Who is made in Cardiff, where a large crew and supply chain depend on the show. That question drew 86 upvotes, according to Deadline.
A second comment went further. It called on the BBC to fully reject generative AI and said Brittin's comments on an AI Doctor Who and on AI news presenters have not been helpful. It received more than 30 upvotes.
Brittin joked that he had "got in trouble" for the Doctor Who comments, which made headlines in national newspapers. Then he gave a fuller answer. He said human-led creativity would always be at the heart of the BBC's mission and that the BBC has to stand for human trust while using the best technology.
What makes this stand out is timing. The future of Doctor Who is currently open. The BBC is running a competitive tender, meaning outside producers pitch for the contract to make the show.
Two bids have been reported. Jed Mercurio is spearheading a pitch from Hat Trick Mercurio to reboot the series. STV Studios has bid to take the show to Scotland for Season 17.
Brittin is new to the job. The former Google executive was confirmed as director-general in March, according to BBC News. He leads an organisation cutting costs and deciding what it can still afford to make.
For fans, this means two debates are running at once. One is who gets to make Doctor Who next, and where. The other is how it gets made, and whether AI has any place in that process.
