Fans of TV4’s international edition of The Challenge, which features Swedish celebrities competing in physical and mental competitions, will have to wait for another season. An AI agent reportedly deleted edited episodes of the show, and a TV4 backup system error deleted hundreds of hours of work.
The Swedish series was due to return on November 22, but has been delayed indefinitely, TV4 said in a statement.
“We have to cut it from scratch. All the raw material is still there, and all that,” program director Mia Lindqvist said on the network’s website.
According to translated articles, the network denies an Aftonbladet report that an AI agent deleted the episodes. However, while TV4’s Lindqvist told the newspaper that an AI agent does not act independently, she did not deny that AI was involved in the mishap. Still, she blamed the failed backup system.
“The big problem is that (production company) Mastiff’s backup didn’t work,” she said.
A representative for TV4 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The program features stars from other Swedish reality programs, such as the country’s version of The Bachelor and Farmen, a reality show about (wait for it…) contestants on a farm. The Challenge: Sweden was first broadcast in 2023.
AI is increasingly a part of editing and production workflows across films and television, with entertainment giants including Netflix leaning on the technology to produce content faster and at lower cost.
If an AI agent were somehow responsible, that would seem to negate any of the time-saving benefits of AI for The Challenge: Sweden and its production team, who now have to spend time rebuilding the episode edits that were lost.