BBC director-general Matt Brittin told the Royal Television Society's London convention that someone recently sent him a 50-minute Doctor Who episode made entirely with AI, and that it was "pretty good". He added at once that the technology would not replace human creators, The Independent reports.
Brittin said billions of people now hold tools that can produce content close to Hollywood studio quality, imperfect but improving fast, so that everyone becomes a creator. The paper notes he had said on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he would let AI present future programmes within guardrails and that the BBC wants to experiment with it.
The remarks came amid cuts. The BBC set out plans in June to find £160 million of the £500 million in savings it needs by 2028/29, with about 2,000 jobs expected to go, most recently 41 at BBC Sport. Brittin told interviewer Kirsty Young the money runs out at the end of next year without a new charter and funding model, and defended announcing cuts in stages. He said he talks daily with staff whose jobs are at risk, that the pressures are the same ones driving consolidation across the industry, and that people should be told as soon as a change affecting them is ready.
A former Google executive, Brittin succeeded Tim Davie in May and is the first director-general since Greg Dyke in 2000 to arrive from outside the BBC. He argued his background in running large organisations, technology and regulation is unusual for the role. The BBC's latest annual report said its finances worsened in the second half of 2025.
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