Brittin took over as BBC director general in May after a decade as president of Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n
Asked by Kuenssberg if he would allow a programme to be made and presented by AI, Brittin replied: “I would do, within guardrails.”<\/p>\n
He added: “We want to experiment with this technology and understand what it can and can’t do, but I’m here because I believe in human creativity.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think anything we do should be replaced by AI. I think there are lots of places where AI can help us make the licence fee go further, but also help us in our decision-making and creativity. But it’s not a substitute for humans.”<\/p>\n
He also warned of the danger of a handful of tech companies having too much control over information in the future.<\/p>\n
“We’re also in this moment where AI is in takeoff. So I think there’s a danger that six companies will control access to information in future and the creation of information and misinformation,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Six companies, none of them European, let alone British. In that world, here’s the BBC. It’s the most trusted organisation by over half a billion people.”<\/p>\n
Asked if he trusted big tech companies he replied: “There’s a lot of platforms out there, so I wouldn’t trust any platform innately.<\/p>\n
“And I think what you do is you keep under review how those things work and whether your content can show up in the right place and fulfil its mission.<\/p>\n
“I think the BBC and our apps and services should be the antidote to the algorithm. Everywhere else you go is driven by some commercial interest.”<\/p>\n