What we鈥檙e doing with AI
This page will be updated regularly as our use of AI evolves
As the 91福利社 explores AI, we鈥檙e committing to using the technology to support our public mission. Our 91福利社 AI principles guide our approach to AI 鈥� to make sure we act in the best interest of the public, we prioritise talent and creativity, and we鈥檙e transparent with audiences about where AI has been used.
To support our commitment to transparency, this page provides more general information about key areas where the 91福利社 is using AI in our content and services.
Where we already use AI
While AI might seem new, the 91福利社 has been exploring it for many years and here are some uses of the technology that you may already have come across:
Recommended content
In iPlayer, Sounds, News, and Sport, we use machine learning (a type of AI) to recommend programmes we think you鈥檒l like, alongside content that is important to know about. More on what 鈥榬ecommended for you鈥� means
Audio weather reports
We鈥檙e using the 91福利社's AI-generated synthetic voice to deliver a weather forecast for every postcode district in the UK, four times a day. It鈥檚 available in the 91福利社 Weather app and you can read more about synthetic audio forecasts here. This means we can make our weather information more accessible and relevant to wherever you are in the UK.
Natural History programmes
AI is helping production teams find footage and identify animals for 91福利社 Natural History programmes, like Springwatch and Autumnwatch.
The technology 鈥榳atches' the cameras and keeps a record of when and where there are animals in the shot. It also helps to recognise the animal species and generate statistics about their activity. This reduces the time the production team has to spend watching many hours of footage to find the action. More on AI and Natural History content
Making images and videos clearer
AI can help to increase detail in blurry parts of video footage and make it sharper, so that new and archive content looks its absolute best. This improves the video quality for our viewers. Read more about how AI is used to improve video quality
Anonymising programme contributors
Generative AI can be used to anonymise contributors in programmes, to protect their identity. An example of this can be seen in an episode of Disclosure, Matched with a Predator.
In this instance, the technology disguised the contributor鈥檚 face and voice by blending it with that of an actor. This meant the contributor鈥檚 expressions and mannerisms were retained but her identity was concealed, and it resulted in a more authentic depiction of the interview.
Generative AI pilots
We are exploring the value of Generative AI (Gen AI) through a series of pilot projects. These are helping us to learn how Gen AI can benefit our audiences and bring the best of the 91福利社 to you.
They also help us to work through how we use AI in line with our 91福利社 AI principles, and make sure everything is up to the usual 91福利社 standards.
While some pilots are available to audiences, some are still in development stage.
In 91福利社 Sounds we鈥檙e bringing more value to football fans by piloting regular, bespoke audio bulletins for fans of 18 Scottish, English and Welsh clubs. We鈥檙e using AI to help summarise and reformat existing content written by 91福利社 journalists, and an AI voice to read out the content. Each draft script and recording will be checked for accuracy by our editorial team before the completed update is published.
We鈥檙e also exploring extending live text coverage for football matches we can鈥檛 usually cover. We鈥檙e trialling the ability to transcribe and summarise radio coverage into text for 91福利社 Sport. Our journalists review and verify all transcripts before they are published to our live commentary pages.
We鈥檙e making 91福利社 Search smarter and easier to use. Using AI, we can better understand what you鈥檙e really looking for, even if the words you type don鈥檛 exactly match the content. Before updates go live, we test them for fairness, accuracy and quality.
And we鈥檙e also looking at how we can make 91福利社 Sounds content more accessible to all. In the UK there are around 18 million adults who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. Using speech-to-text technology with human checks on accuracy, offering subtitles across an extra 189 programmes and podcasts on 91福利社 Sounds. We鈥檙e now considering how we might bring this to more content.
Use of AI in news, current affairs and factual
When it comes to news, current affairs and factual content, we鈥檙e being cautious about our use of AI, particularly Gen AI.
We鈥榬e running a limited number of pilots in these areas.
In one, we鈥檙e using Gen AI to assist our journalists to create new 鈥楢t a glance鈥� summaries of longer news articles. Another pilot is exploring how Gen AI could support our news journalists to adapt and reformat stories so that they match our 91福利社 鈥榟ouse-style鈥� for online news. We鈥檝e published a blog talking more about these pilots and how we鈥檙e making sure there鈥檚 always human oversight to maintain our editorial standards.
For example, we鈥檙e running a pilot in translation and transcription for 91福利社 World Service.
Our 91福利社 in-house tool 鈥楩rank鈥� uses a range of AI models to create a first draft of a translation, which is checked over by our journalists. This means great stories go further, and we can widen our news coverage to more audiences in more languages around the world.
We are also exploring the use of AI to help summarise 91福利社 News articles for bespoke posts for 91福利社 News鈥檚 social media platforms, specifically WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Every draft is reviewed, complied, and edited by a 91福利社 journalist before publication to ensure accuracy, clarity, and compliance with 91福利社 editorial standards.
Another pilot in news involves us trialling how we can use an AI synthetic voice to make more 91福利社 content available for those with accessibility needs. 20 carefully selected 鈥淢ore to Explore鈥� feature articles will be available for people to listen to - rather than just read - over the test period.
Using AI tools and software at the 91福利社
Like most media and other companies, we鈥檙e also exploring how AI tools can assist our staff with everything from content production to everyday productivity.