Screenwriters and content creators have criticised a “depressing” and “unethical” head of generative AI position created by ITV.  

A job ad posted on LinkedIn late last week called for an AI expert who could act as an “innovative and visionary leader”. As head of generative AI innovation with a salary range of £80,000-95,000, they would “drive the strategy and execution of AI-driven transformation across ITV Studios and ITV’s streaming services”.  

The postholder would help to create material for TV shows, films and digital-first content, including using “implementation tools like AI-generated ideation, character development, and enhanced production graphics.” It is understood that this would include generating ideas used for creative use.  

The posting was taken down on Sunday and ITV is no longer accepting applications, while TV creatives including screen writers such as Jack Rooke, Lisa McGee and Liam Williams have criticised the broadcaster’s creation of the role, which it is understood is a UK TV first.  

Rooke, creator of Channel 4 comedy Big Boys, said that ITV was “neglecting to realise their most successful scripted projects have always been born out of real life human experience.”  

Referencing recent hits such as drama Mr Bates vs The Post office and long running soap Coronation Street, Rooke continued that these shows have “quite literally shaped, reflected and changed our society, and they are shows built by real life writers, creating characters we have loved for decades.” 

“That is what ITV have always been good at. ITV and their channel executives should be further investing in creative writing talent to continue developing mainstream stories for audiences, as opposed to cost-cutting in de-humanising ways. Writers currently working on ITV productions should be supported in making this stance unequivocally clear, until ITV realise what potential fight they could have on their hands”. 

Fellow C4 comedy writer Lisa McGee, who penned Derry Girls, said that she had found the news of the newly-created AI role “incredibly depressing and, considering how AI material is generated, unethical.”  

“I personally don’t think this model will work. Great stories are in the telling, the tone, the point of view, the personal. Screenwriting is both an art form and a craft and I think what I find most disturbing is this desire to replace us.”  

Meanwhile Williams, creator of BBC comedy Ladhood, said that for writers, “it is more important than ever to join a union such as the WGGB [The Writers Guild of Great Britain],” calling recent times an era “increasingly defined by depressing experiments in creative automation.”  

Ellie Peers, WGGB’s general secretary added: “We were shocked to hear that ITV are intending to bring in an AI expert to replace writers and other creators. There’s no shortage of story ideas out there, though sadly there appears to be an unwillingness to pay for them. If the broadcaster has a spare £95,000, they would be better off investing in screenwriters rather than gimmicks. We strongly oppose this move from ITV, which also raises serious questions about IP. We will be talking about this to ITV as a matter of urgency.”

An ITV spokesperson said: “At ITV we are using AI tools to enhance and expand our creative and production processes. While nothing can replace the human creativity of our teams, we are exploring how GenAI can help our staff to work more efficiently and creatively and optimise our content for viewers.” 

It is understood that the broadcaster is looking to utilise artificial intelligence to use as an aid for human creativity rather than as a means of coming up with ideas. The ITV position is thought to be a UK television first, however AI is already used by numerous production companies across the production process and is increasingly used in TV production.  

At a natural history conference Wildscreen last week, a group of senior executive producers expressed their own fears of the use of AI calling the technology “the biggest problem in the room” with Silverback director and co-chief executive Keith Scholey saying that the “big challenge for natural history will be what is real and how you place value on reality.”