BBC director-general Matt Brittin has said artificial intelligence will not replace human creators, despite recently watching what he described as a “pretty good” 50-minute AI-generated episode of Doctor Who.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society’s London convention in 2026, Brittin said that around six billion people had the ability to create content at the standard of a Hollywood studio. While acknowledging that AI-generated work was not always perfect, he said: “It’s not going to replace humans. So, everyone’s a creator.”
His comments followed remarks on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that he would allow AI to present future programmes “within guardrails” and that the BBC wanted to experiment with the technology.
Brittin also addressed the BBC’s financial difficulties. Plans announced in June for savings across its news, nations and content divisions are expected to deliver £160 million of the £500 million in savings required by 2028/29. Around 2,000 jobs are expected to be cut, while the corporation has most recently announced 41 job losses at BBC Sport.
He said the BBC’s money would run out at the end of the following year unless it secured a new charter, and argued that a new funding mechanism was needed to maintain the scale of public service media the corporation had provided in the past.
Asked why the BBC had announced cuts gradually rather than all at once, Brittin said the changes affected people’s lives and that he was speaking daily with employees whose jobs were at risk. He said the corporation was telling people about proposed changes as soon as it was ready to do so.
Brittin became director-general in May, succeeding Tim Davie. The former Google executive is the first person since Greg Dyke in 2000 to take the role without having previously worked at the BBC.
He said his experience included running large organisations, working with technology and regulation, and observing how changes in technology affected behaviour. He also said he had “a love for the BBC” after growing up with it.
The BBC’s latest annual report said the corporation’s financial outlook had deteriorated in the second half of 2025.
