Creative AI: a strategic opportunity for the UK
The UK is positioned to lead in creative AI and legal frameworks, according to senior figures from across the UK’s television and creative industries at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
“We can’t win the AI arms race. We are too late,” said Particle 6 founder and CEO Aline Van der Velden. “The Chinese with models like SeeDance 2.0 are unbeatable. But we can win the creative space. The UK is in a unique position to lead in AI creativity.”
The strongest argument for UK leadership came from Jonny McCausland, Head of Creative Innovation at Hat Trick Productions, who said the UK could become a global hub for creative AI — particularly in animation.
“I’ve always been frustrated that the UK doesn’t have a much bigger position in the global field of animation. It’s very US-dominated.” The reason, he argued, is cost: “It’s too expensive and too time-consuming for UK broadcasters.”
Hat Trick’s work focuses on using AI to streamline the “middle process” of animation production without replacing illustrators, animators or performers. “We’re not changing the creative input,” McCausland said. “It still has to be really good animation. It can’t look like AI.”
Instead, AI can accelerate workflows and reduce costs enough to make UK-originated animation more viable. “If we can get this good enough, fast enough, at a sensible cost, we can finance differently. Control creative. Control distribution. Go digital-first and really start to build a brand.”
This shift could allow UK companies to bypass traditional commissioning routes. “The really exciting thing AI unlocks is not needing to go to a commissioner,” he said. “After a year, you could go to the BBC and say: ‘We’ve got a million followers for this. Now let’s talk about the TV show.’”
Provenance, attribution, and the UK Advantage
McCausland also emphasised the UK’s potential leadership in AI provenance and attribution, pointing to emerging standards such as C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity).
“C2PA allows us to go to illustrators, writers, performers, use their data to train small AI models, and then track every use of that content on a blockchain-like ledger,” he said. “You can attach automated remuneration and automated provenance.”
This could ensure creators are paid fairly when their work contributes to AI-generated content. “If an illustrator’s work trains a model that generates content, and that content is sold, the illustrator gets paid — automatically.”
McCausland argued that the UK is already ahead in this area. “A lot of this work is being done in the UK,” he said. “There’s a huge amount we can do to position the UK as a leader in the creative and legal side.”
For example, the Costar National Lab has published a proposal for a new AI copyright framework for UK creative industries.
AI moves upstream
Banijay UK CEO and Executive Chair Patrick Holland, opened the session by framing AI as a technology already embedded in the industry. “Every major technology in television eventually becomes invisible. If we use it, it disappears into the creative process.”
He pointed to the rise of VFX, green screen, digital cameras and virtual production as examples of tools that were once novel but are now standard. “If you went to a drama set 30 years ago, there would have been no green screen and now we take it as read that VFX will be a major part of any high-end TV production.”
The real question, Holland argued, was not: Is AI coming to take over television? but How are we going to use it?
Human-driven creativity, AI-enabled workflows
Particle6 is the creator of AI actor Tilly Norwood, which sparked outrage in Hollywood, particularly among the Screen Actors Guild. A feature film starring Norwood is now in development. “It will take at least 12 months to make, with writers, directors, set designers, costume designers working with AI and skilling everyone up,” Van der Velden said.
Her company is already working with writers, performers and directors who want to experiment with AI, she said.
“If you’re a great writer, AI enhances you,” she said. “It’s about upskilling and retooling people so they’re ready to use AI.”
Peter Archer, Director of the BBC’s Generative AI Programme, outlined the corporation’s position: “All our creative output — TV, audio, journalism — needs to be driven by humans.”
However, he said AI is already transforming workflows, especially in reformatting content across modalities. “Long-form TV into short-form rapidly. Podcasts into short-form. Live audio into text pages. Articles into audio.”
Audience attitudes have shifted dramatically, Archer said. “A year ago everyone was super scared. Now, they see AI as another technology, like VFX.”
Theo Jones, Creative Director for AI at VFX facility Framestore, said AI is finally enabling persuading studios to invest more heavily in pre-production.
“We’ve been trying to persuade studios for a long time that we should be creative partners from the very beginning,” he said. “If you can spend that money in pre-production, you can make better choices.”
AI-driven previz and tech-viz now allow productions to visualise scenes early, even without actors or full design teams. “It allows you to visualise what something might look like — to a worked-up state early on,” Jones said. “That means better choices, reduced expense on the shoot, and reduced expense in post.”
He said studios are beginning to echo Framestore’s long-standing message. “AI has landed in a way that means that message is finally being heard.”
Jones also warned that commissioners are increasingly approaching tech companies directly — often with poor results. “They’re talking past each other,” he said. “Why go to a tech company for something that is a creative process?”
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