Rhodri Talfan Davies is the BBC’s Director of Nations. He’s responsible for bringing teams together across the BBC to shape our response to an emerging area of technology called Generative AI (or Gen AI). Generative AI, sometimes called gen AI, is artificial intelligence (AI) that can create original content—such as text, images, video, audio or software code—in response to a user’s prompt or request. In October 2023 2024 Rhodri set out a list of three principles which would shape the BBC’s approach to working with Gen AI.
The BBC would
• always act in the best interests of the public
• always prioritise talent and creativity
• always be open and transparent with audiences when we use AI to support content-making.
He announced 12 pilots which would explore the use of GenAI taking a targeted approach to better understand both the opportunities and risks. These pilots will explore different areas where the BBC thinks it could bring significant benefits for audiences and staff. The 12 pilots would be across three themes:-
• Maximising value of existing content
• New Audience experiences
• Make how we do things quicker and easier
More details about the pilots can be found @ An update on the BBC’s plans for Generative AI (Gen AI) and how we plan to use AI tools responsibly
This year, in January 2025, there has been an update on the pilots after two years. Rhodri states that ‘The Gen AI tools (that the BBC has been using) are impressive, the accuracy levels are improving and the pilot schemes over the past few months suggest they could unlock significantly more value for audiences.
In the majority of cases, it’s also clear AI can assist us to do things more quickly but it does not remove the need for human oversight given the risk of error.’
Further information and details on the update can be found @ An update on Generative AI (Gen AI) at the BBC
