The BFI requires disclosure of AI, not a ban on its use

The shot

The British Film Institute (BFI), the UK's national lottery funding body for film, publishes its own guidance on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in BFI funding applications and funded projects, a page it states was last updated on 28 January 2026. The guidance covers 'assistive and generative AI' specifically, applying to the funding application itself and to any project the BFI goes on to support, and it references a companion research report, 'AI in the Screen Sector: Perspectives and Paths Forward,' which the guidance says the BFI produced with the CoSTAR Foresight Lab.

What the documents show

The BFI's own guidance states plainly that the organisation 'does not prohibit the use of AI in funding applications, or in the projects we support,' but does 'require applicants to be transparent about the use of any AI,' and that all BFI applications now 'contain questions on your use of AI.' The guidance also states the BFI does not currently use AI to assess applications and has no AI-specific assessment criteria; use is instead weighed within each fund's existing criteria. The companion report page, describing itself as 'the first UK-wide exploration' of generative AI's effect on the UK screen sector, states it surfaces 'nine recommendations aligned to three strategic outcomes' based on data analysis, expert interviews and industry surveys, the BFI's own account of that report's method, not an independently audited finding.

The workflow

A BFI applicant completing a funding form should expect and answer AI-related questions honestly, covering both AI use in preparing the application and any planned or existing use within the project itself; the guidance lists specific prompts, including whether the applicant holds rights to material input into an AI tool and whether project staff have 'the necessary skills, technical expertise and governance structures to use AI responsibly.' The guidance also states that awardees must tell the BFI if AI is introduced to a project after the application stage, extending disclosure across the life of the award rather than a single form.

What the tool does not change

The BFI's guidance does not replace the binding rights warranty every funding recipient signs, which the guidance says 'extends to any actual or proposed usage of AI technologies,' and it states the BFI 'is not a regulating body' with authority to enforce rights management across the industry. This guidance is a BFI funding condition, separate from BAFTA's own award-eligibility rules, published independently and not addressed here.

• Does your application form include the AI-use questions the guidance describes, and have you answered them for both the application and the project?
• If AI is introduced to your project after submission, have you notified the BFI as the guidance requires?
• Have you separately confirmed whether AI use affects your project's standing under a different fund's specific assessment criteria?

The BFI's own text draws a disclosure line, not a prohibition line, and keeping that distinction intact matters for any producer weighing whether a funding condition changes what they can make rather than what they must say about how they made it.