Blue Planet III uses cloudier footage to prove authenticity in the AI era

The BBC series Blue Planet III deliberately includes cloudier, less polished footage to counter AI fakery and assure viewers the animals are authentic, producers said. No generative AI was used in any frame. The David Attenborough-narrated series returns nearly a decade after Blue Planet II, featuring new technology like the world's first underwater CCTV camera. Executive producer Elizabeth White said AI "makes us want to be even more authentic," so producers now leave in plankton, boats, and murkier water conditions that were previously edited out. Filmed over four years across five oceans, the series captures novel animal behavior including dolphins using sea sponges to trap fish. It also addresses climate threats and plastic pollution. Attenborough, aged 100, remained "very much involved" and made script changes.