Blue Planet III Uses Cloudier Footage to Show Animals Are Not AI
Producers say the BBC series deliberately keeps murkier, less polished shots to reassure viewers animals are real, and no generative AI was used.
The story in focus
The Guardian reports that Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to reassure viewers its animals are not AI-generated. BBC commissioning head Jack Bootle said no generative AI was used in the series. Producers also described new filming tools, including an underwater CCTV camera used to film dolphins.
- Producers deliberately include more organic, less polished footage to counter AI fakery concerns.
- Jack Bootle, BBC specialist factual commissioning head, said no generative AI was used in the series.
- An underwater CCTV camera, dubbed stonefish cam, captured dolphins using sea sponges to trap fish.
- The series took four years to film across five oceans and starts 1 November on BBC1 and iPlayer.
- Episodes address warming seas killing sea anemone where clown fish live, and pollutants including forever chemicals.
Why the series looks less polished
Blue Planet III producers say the series intentionally keeps cloudier, murkier and less polished shots, describing them as more organic, to show that the animals on screen are not AI-generated. Executive producer Elizabeth White said AI makes the team want to be even more authentic, and that deep-ocean creatures are more remarkable than AI could imagine.
White said plankton and other material in the water, or objects such as boats and buoys, might previously have led a sequence to be excluded or framed out. She said such elements are now being left in, and that the team will probably lean further into organic footage as AI grows.
No generative AI, and new camera tools
At a press screening, the BBC's specialist factual commissioning head, Jack Bootle, said no generative AI was used in the series and that all footage is real photography, according to The Guardian. Bootle also said the series is full of novel behaviour.
Series producer Lara Bickerton said BBC Studios continually innovated over four years of filming across five oceans, creating a mini-dome camera to follow an octopus, a deep-sea selfie stick, leg-mounted scooters for TikTok-style diving footage, and using lasers to film deep-sea creatures. Producer and director Yoland Bosiger developed an underwater CCTV camera, dubbed stonefish cam, used to capture dolphins using sea sponges to block holes in coral and trap fish.
Ocean threats and release
The series also addresses threats to the ocean. One episode shows warmer seas caused by the climate crisis killing sea anemone where clown fish live, and how the fish try to fix their homes. White said the plastics issue raised in Blue Planet II continues with a story about pollutants and forever chemicals. Blue Planet III starts on Sunday 1 November on BBC1 and iPlayer.
Did Blue Planet III use generative AI?
The Guardian reports that BBC commissioning head Jack Bootle said no generative AI was used in the series and that all footage is real photography. Producers also deliberately include less polished footage to show authenticity.
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