The BBC Sounds app has launched a pilot that uses generative AI to generate subtitles and transcripts for a variety of audio broadcasts on the platform.
The broadcaster stated that the new feature is powered by Whisper, a speech-to-text AI engine developed and published open source by ChatGPT inventor OpenAI.
The feature will be publicly tested on the BBC Sounds app’s web and Android versions, with compatibility for Apple’s iOS expected in the following weeks.
The technology was used to “quickly generate a high-quality transcript” of programme audio, which was then verified and changed as needed by the BBC’s editorial team before being posted on the BBC Sounds app.
Aniruddh Dimri, head of product at BBC Sounds, commented, “It is vital to the BBC’s goal that everyone in the UK knows the BBC is for them. This means ensuring that our content reflects our different backgrounds, interests, and identities, as well as ensuring that it is accessible to everyone.
BBC Sounds App’s Latest Update: Whisper AI for High-Quality Subtitles
“For example, BBC Sounds now produces approximately 27,000 hours of content per month, but the majority of it may be difficult to access for the approximately 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss, or suffer from tinnitus.” We’ve been looking for ways to include subtitles so that people can read alongside the audio.
“Doing this manually would be time-consuming and prohibitively expensive.
“However, as we pilot new technology and explore how we can work with and use Generative AI tools to benefit our audiences, we have been looking at whether AI can help us add high quality, accurate subtitles to our audio content.”
The AI-powered transcripts will be used on shows such as In Touch, Access All, Profile, Sporting Witness, and Economics with Subtitles during the three-month experiment, with the BBC planning to expand the technology to other programs afterward.
“After three months we’ll review the progress made in the trial, how well the tools are working and if they’re a cost-effective way of making transcripts available in Sounds,” Dimri told me.
“After that review, we’ll determine whether or not to continue, and if successful whether to roll them out to more of our content on BBC Sounds, and potentially to expand to our archive as well.”
Generative AI tools have risen in popularity over the last 18 months, following the release of ChatGPT, as tech companies and other businesses attempted to capitalise on the technology’s excitement and provide new tools to attract more users to their products and services.
