The backlash was immediate, but it didn’t stop the BBC from using text generated by LLMs—and purportedly checked and copy-edited by a human before approval—in two marketing emails and mobile push notifications to advertise Doctor Who. But now, the corporation will stop the experimentation entirely after a wave of official complaints pushed them to offer a response to concerned audiences.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    103
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    7 months ago

    There’s nothing wrong with using an LLM to help you brainstorm or write a draft of something. But, the end product needs to be original, or it will be obvious. Tools are tools. You don’t stop copy editing because a computer can check your spelling and grammar, so you can’t let “AI” have the final say.

    Their mistake was thinking AI would be a good thing to mention.

    • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      The best way to handle LLMs is to treat them like an intern. They’re useful and can get a lot of work done, but you need to double check their work.

  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    7 months ago

    BBC from using text generated by LLMs—and purportedly checked and copy-edited by a human before approval—in two marketing emails and mobile push notifications to advertise Doctor Who.

    If they’re telling the truth then I don’t really get what’s wrong about that particular use

    • yogurt@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      7 months ago

      They weren’t just being cheap, they wanted to take human-written ads, auto-generate a million variations to send to individual people, then feed the ones that got clicks back in to train an AI clickbait generator. It also means the variations would be functionally watermarked so if anybody posted part of their text on Reddit or something the BBC could track who they sent that variation to.

  • Australis13@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    7 months ago

    Given how bad the show’s writing has been for years and the declining in viewership in the Chibnell era, I’m actually surprised the BBC actually reversed course for once.

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      7 months ago

      it’s crazy to me how bad the writing got. I just did a full rewatch to prep for Ncuti and it falls off a fucking cliff

  • xia@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    7 months ago

    I think that might make for interesting tv… one or more of the characters have dialog and action written by ai, and they have to deduce which are machines.

  • Wanderer@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    7 months ago

    There is no mention of the quality of the marketing.

    If it was made by an LLM, checked and it was at the quality of a human then what’s the issue?

    • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 months ago

      That sums up the current AI situation pretty well. It‘s especially sad because so many (former) flagships of creativity like Wacom, LEGO, Disney or WotC are being caught using it, effectively burning down what was left of their legacy.

      • RatBin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        7 months ago

        Ironically I thought AI would be used by smaller teams or even single users like me to brainstorm or get new ideas, but it us being shamelesslu used by croporations who could afford to pay a full team of artists and still gain a lot of money, while indipendent artists and creators just refuse to use it up to that extent.

        • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          Oh yeah man, I guess you haven’t heard but companies behind AI are investing like, billions of dollars into AI. They’re not doing that so the little guys get some novel use out of it.

  • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    60
    ·
    7 months ago

    People are so dumb they make me actually side with a fucking company. Luddites used to be fun to make fun of until people started actually listening to them.

    • AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      50
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      7 months ago

      The luddites were a labor movement. They fought for the rights of skilled workers to make a living.

      Somehow you have fallen for the myth that machines make art.

      • Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        16
        ·
        7 months ago

        Nah, they were lunatics who thought machines would replace them. Guess what, machines are everywhere and people still have a job.