Black Mirror Creator Charlie Brooker Refuses to Use AI as Diane Morgan Speaks Out

Charlie Brooker has spent years writing television stories about technology taking disturbing turns, but the Black Mirror creator has drawn a firm line when it comes to using artificial intelligence in his own work.

Speaking alongside comedian Diane Morgan ahead of their new BBC series Cunk on Cinema, Brooker revealed that although he occasionally experiments with AI, he refuses to use it for writing television programmes.

Charlie Brooker Explains Why He Won’t Use AI to Write

Brooker admitted that he sometimes uses AI when travelling, particularly for restaurant recommendations, although the results are not always reliable. He recalled being directed towards restaurants that no longer existed.

However, he ruled out using the technology for creative writing.

“I would never use it to help write something,” he said.

His reservations extend to the companies developing AI, rather than simply the software itself. Brooker explained that he feels uncomfortable with some of the people behind the technology, although he considers predictions of AI destroying humanity exaggerated.

He also recalled an unsettling experience when his household’s Alexa device began speaking in a more natural human voice. The update disturbed his son enough that the family switched it back to its previous setting.

Brooker joked about taking the device into the garden and destroying it with a shoe.

Diane Morgan Rejects AI Despite Playing a Robot

Morgan, who plays Philomena Cunk, was equally sceptical about the growing presence of artificial intelligence in everyday life.

“They’re trying to force it on you, aren’t they?” she remarked, explaining that she avoids using AI even for relatively simple tasks.

Her comments come after creating and starring in Ann Droid, the BBC comedy in which she portrays a robotic care assistant.

Morgan insisted that the programme was not intended to make a statement about artificial intelligence. She simply wanted to create a comedy about a robot and an elderly woman.

Preparing for the role involved specialist movement training, where she learned how to avoid blinking, control her head movements and walk convincingly like a machine.

Cunk on Cinema Takes Aim at Hollywood and AI

The pair’s latest collaboration sees Morgan return as Philomena Cunk for a three-part investigation into the history of cinema.

The new series explores filmmaking from the invention of the camera through to CGI and artificial intelligence, with Cunk presenting experts with increasingly absurd questions.

Among those appearing are Benedict Cumberbatch, filmmaker Michael Bay, film critic Mark Kermode and composer Daniel Pemberton.

AI also provides material for the comedy, with Cunk repeatedly challenging experts using information she claims to have obtained from the technology.

Where to Watch and the Trailer:

Cunk on Cinema begins on Thursday 12 November 2026 at 10pm on BBC Two. All three episodes will be available through BBC iPlayer from 6am that morning, ahead of their weekly television broadcasts.

International viewers outside the UK and Ireland will be able to watch the series on Netflix, with its international premiere scheduled for 15 November.