The massively well-liked BBC Sounds audio platform is trialing new AI-generated subtitles that play together with reveals, and full transcripts, through its web site and app. The three-month trial is at the moment restricted to a handful of reveals – In Contact, Entry All, Profile, Sporting Witness, and Economics with Subtitles.
So, when listening to those particular reveals through the web site proper now, you’ll see a brand new subtitles button within the playbar. Click on this and the AI-generated subtitles will play together with the audio.
The BBC can also be increasing the trial to the BBC Sounds app, on Android first, and later on iOS. So, within the app you’ll see the identical subtitles icon seem within the playbar when listening to those specific reveals. It really works barely in another way, nevertheless. Subtitles will scroll up the display, and the phrases being spoken are highlighted because the presenter and company say them.
The BBC is utilizing a speech-to-text AI known as Whisper AI for the trial, after which there can be a evaluation to find out how effectively it has labored. If the BBC deems the venture a hit then (we hope) it should begin rolling out the subtitles to much more reveals.
Why so lengthy?
What’s odd is that many podcast apps embraced AI for including subtitles a very long time in the past. Spotify, as an illustration, truly added an automated transcript to its podcasts approach again in 2023, with a Learn Alongside function that brings up subtitles because the podcast performs, and highlights every phrase because it’s being stated. Apple added transcripts to Apple Podcasts earlier this 12 months.
Whereas the trial is in progress the BBC goes to get a human editor to verify every transcript earlier than it is uploaded, somewhat than belief synthetic intelligence to supply flawless transcripts. The BBC’s reluctance to commit totally to AI-generated transcripts, and preferring to run a trial, is emblematic of the warning with which individuals typically strategy AI.
Given many individuals’s fears over what AI might means for jobs sooner or later, it is comprehensible that the BBC is being cautious, however the easy reality is that BBC Sounds produces roughly 27,000 hours of content material every month, a lot of which is tough to entry for the roughly 18 million individuals within the UK who’ve listening to loss or tinnitus, to not point out its appreciable worldwide viewers, and it might be unimaginable to transcribe all that materials manually.
In its personal approach, the BBC is slowly being dragged into the long run and embracing AI, however we’re happy to see that it is making good use of the thrilling new expertise.
RelatedPosts
