The BBC announced on June 27th that it will commence public trials of two generative AI tools designed to enhance its news production workflow. These trials, spearheaded by Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC’s executive sponsor for generative AI, will center around two key applications: “at a glance” summaries and a style-assist formatting tool.
The BBC has already conducted extensive internal testing over the past 18 months to assess the potential of generative AI in news production. This public phase will specifically evaluate the efficacy of AI-generated bullet-point summaries in assisting readers in understanding the core tenets of longer articles, and the capacity of an AI-powered style assistant to expedite the reformatting of partner content to adhere to BBC house style.
For the “at a glance” pilot, journalists will utilize a pre-approved prompt to generate concise, easily digestible summaries of chosen news stories. Crucially, all outputs will undergo thorough review and editing by journalists before publication, ensuring the maintenance of editorial control and transparency concerning AI utilization. The BBC notes that such short, bullet-point summaries have resonated well with younger audiences, serving as an efficient means of comprehending complex narratives.
The Style Assist pilot will leverage a BBC-trained large language model to streamline the reformatting of reports sourced from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). The LDRS, a collaborative initiative funded by the BBC and run by local news organizations, provides daily local news coverage. By automating the process of adapting content to house style, the BBC aims to boost the volume of LDRS stories it can publish without increasing production time.
Under the Style Assist workflow, verified reports are submitted to the BBC’s content system, undergo AI-powered reformatting, and are subsequently reviewed by a senior journalist for accuracy and clarity. The BBC emphasizes that no content is published without human approval, and any AI assistance will be clearly disclosed to the audience, reflecting the organization's commitment to transparency. Initial testing of Style Assist will be carried out by newsroom teams in BBC Wales and the east of England, providing valuable feedback and data on production efficiency.
The BBC will rigorously assess the performance of each tool, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions regarding the potential expansion of these pilots.