Heard the one about the robot director? BBC conducts comedy show experiment with AI

HUMANS used to cling to the belief that however powerful robots became, they would never replace our capacity for that essential sentient quality, humour. But it now appears that androids are even capable of comic timing.

It has emerged that the BBC has harnessed artificial intelligence (AI) to film a number of comedy panel and discussion shows staged at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

While the use of AI to operate cameras has become increasingly common, this was one of the first cases of robots being used to direct a programme.

It was possible because the cuts normally decided on by a programme director were relatively simple, involving the switch from one panellist to another when they came to speak, rather than an artistic decision about the flow and structure of a dramatic narrative. The programmes were recorded — not for broadcast, but for testing — at George Heriot School in Scotland.

Matthew Postgate, the BBC’s chief technology and product officer, has said the emergence of AI marks a “profound” shift in the way the BBC will solve problems and serve audiences.

He added that one potential use was to increase the range of live events the BBC was able to cover.

Mr Postgate said that after analysing thousands of shows, the computer had learned how to ‘direct’ the “relatively formulaic genre” of a panel show.

But he added: “The computer is standing on the shoulders of a generation of TV directors to establish when to cut from someone speaking to another person reacting. This is about augmenting what humans do, not replacing them.”

He added AI was a long way from being able to direct drama or sitcom, where the artistic or editorial vision depended on human creativity.

“If panel shows and some sports and news programmes are at one end of the spectrum, then drama is at the other. It’s the area that’s perhaps the most immune to AI production,” he said.

BBC sources have said the Edinburgh Festival provided a good platform during which to trial the use of AI to direct shows. A source said: “Using AI to direct something like a panel show, which is fairly similar in format from one to the other, would enable us to broadcast more of those events.”

The BBC is already using AI on its iPlayer service to recommend programmes as soon as the credits role.