The BBC has decided to exterminate its experiments using generative AI to promote venerable SciFi show Doctor Who.
The broadcaster announced its intention to use AI to create some promos in early March, a move that earned it a thorough pasting from fans – including the folks behind the Doctor Who Companion website, which declared itself “absolutely disgusted.” And doubly so, after the BBC took down the page on which it announced its intentions.
Thankfully the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has preserved that page. It originally featured an article by David Housden, head of media inventory: digital, who revealed the following.
Housden explained that the BBC decided to use Doctor Who for its very first generative AI marketing experiments because the venerable franchise “is a joint content priority for both BBC Public Service UK and BBC Studios marketing teams.”
Moreover: “There’s a rich variety of content in the Whoniverse collection on iPlayer to test and learn with, and Doctor Who thematically lends itself to AI which is a bonus.”
It was not a bonus.
Unknown numbers of Whovians complained, leading the BBC to announce it had ended the experiment.
“We received complaints about reports that the BBC is exploring generative AI in Doctor Who promotion,” the announcement concedes.
The BBC responded to those complaints as follows:
That wasn’t enough for the folks at Doctor Who Companion, who don’t want the BBC to use AI for any promotions, for any shows – ever.
And, as the site notes, Doctor Who himself has triumphed in plenty of battles against AI. The Doctor Who Wiki chronicles several similar battles across the extended Whoniverse of TV, books, and comics.
As The Register has often wearily noted, in 2024 it’s almost impossible to escape hype about AI’s inevitable ascent.
Now we have finally found a foe capable of defeating it: irate Whovians. ®
