The BBC Has Plans To Use AI To Save Money, But Staff Are Skeptical

Welcome to Rendering, a Deadline column reporting at the intersection of AI and showbiz. Rendering examines how artificial intelligence is disrupting the entertainment industry, taking you inside key battlegrounds and spotlighting change makers wielding the technology for good and ill. Got a story about AI? Rendering wants to hear from you: jkanter@deadline.com.

Addressing an anxious workforce last week, the BBC’s interim boss Rhodri Talfan Davies detailed proposals to save £500M ($674M) over the next couple of years. Attention inevitably focused on the British broadcaster’s plan to close 2,000 jobs, but there was another consistent theme during an hour-long all-staff briefing: artificial intelligence.

Talfan Davies told employees that the BBC “could be faster in the adoption of AI” and that plans are being drawn up to use the technology to find “simpler ways of working and better workflows.” He did not offer specifics, but said Sarah Calcott, a chief operating officer for the BBC’s nations unit, is leading the work, with more detail expected in September.

The BBC is not unique in being vague about how artificial intelligence can unlock savings, but the corporation is undoubtedly encouraging the use of AI tools internally. The BBC estimates that around half of its employees use AI models on a weekly basis, with staff being given access to services including Microsoft Copilot and ElevenLabs, the generative AI audio company. More than 100 “AI events” were also held for staff late last year.

The BBC’s public service duties mean it is cautious about adopting generative AI in output, but the broadcaster is testing audience appetite for the technology. Executives talk animatedly about BBC Sport pilot My Club Daily, in which bespoke AI-generated news bulletins were created for Premier League football clubs, drawing on existing BBC content. John Curbishley, the BBC’s chief strategy and transformation officer, told staff last week that it allowed the broadcaster to create podcasts on the cheap — and always with “human in loop” verifying the bulletins before they were published. 

The BBC has also been open about how AI is allowing for shortcuts in adding subtitles to shows on BBC Sounds, as well as translating content into different languages for BBC News. The hope is that this improves employee efficiency, as well as making output more accessible to audiences. 

But based on the written questions from employees during last week’s all-staff call, BBC insiders are not convinced about AI. “Why are we so set on AI when there’s such public opposition to it, and it’s expensive and after five minutes just regurgitates gibberish?” asked one worker, per messages seen by Deadline. Another added:  “Some large companies which have widely adopted AI have spent millions on it without clear benefit, resulting in layoffs due to the budget being used on AI rather than salaries.”

A third person had this feedback: “Not long ago, in conversations around AI, senior leaders said we would not be replaced by AI processes and that we would be a people-first organization. Now it seems it’s the opposite. How will senior leadership restore trust after another massive round of job losses and cuts?”

The job of addressing these questions will fall, not to Talfan Davies, but to ex-Google executive Matt Brittin, who takes over as BBC director general on May 18. Brittin is something of an AI evangelist — a man who has had his nose pressed to the glass of leading-edge AI discoveries from the likes of Demis Hassabis, a fellow Brit who runs the hugely influential Google DeepMind. Brittin has spoken about AI giving people “special powers,” meaning it’s not a leap to speculate that he will redouble the BBC’s efforts in the space and potentially forge partnerships with old colleagues at Google. 

But while pursuing savings through AI seems inevitable, it is far from uncomplicated. Talfan Davies, the BBC’s interim chief, told staff last week that the technology is coming for “entry-level” roles, which could present the BBC with “demographic challenge in terms of new skills and new thinking.” He continued: “We need to step through that really carefully. We need to think about how we make sure that our workforce for the future properly reflects the whole of society.”

That all starts with one of the guiding rules in the BBC’s AI principles: transparency and clear explanations. If artificial intelligence is going to help the BBC slash costs, the corporation must hold true to these principles by explaining to employees how it will work and why it will affect them.