With all the excitement brewing over the Doctor Who competitive tender process, one might have almost forgotten about the scare fans got last week when BBC boss Matt Brittin revealed that he’d been sent an AI-generated episode of the show and thought it was “pretty good.”

But that sort of thing is very hard to forget. If fans found it worrisome, imagine how the former Google exec’s employees at the BBC reacted. According to Deadline, Brittin was taken to task for his “not helpful” comments at a recent BBC staff meeting, where he was urged to “rethink [his] fascination with AI-generated [programs].”

In response, Brittin walked back his praise for AI, especially when it comes to replacing the work of actual humans. “I was just trying to make the point: look at the pace of change and what this stuff can do,” he said.

He stopped short of saying the BBC won’t ever use AI, though.

While he noted that “AI can help tools on research … it will help us to be more effective [and] more efficient in some ways, and there are some creative opportunities that come through too,” he also made sure to emphasize that “I believe in human creativity, enhanced by whatever tools. We’re surrounded by technology today. It’ll be different technology tomorrow. But the BBC has to stand for human trust, using the best technology.”

Does that make you feel better about Doctor Who avoiding the call of AI slop in its next incarnation?

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