LONDON: Britain’s national broadcaster the BBC is drawing up plans to build and train its own artificial intelligence model using its text archives, the corporation said on Thursday.
A BBC executive told a parliamentary committee earlier this month the organization was looking at generative AI as a tool to support its production process and assessing a possible unilateral or partnership arrangement on training a model.
Asked about a Financial Times report on Thursday that the BBC was planning to build its own AI models, a spokesperson confirmed the BBC was looking at developing a Large Language Model using text-based content.
The output of any such model would only be available to the BBC, the spokesperson said.
The Financial Times also reported, citing sources, that the broadcaster was holding talks with technology firms over selling access to its archives, which could then be used to train AI models.
In response to that, the BBC said: “The BBC has no agreement with any organization to use its archive to train their large language models that power generative AI tools for commercial use.
“We are looking at a wide range of issues such as potential bias within such models and how the BBC either in partnership or unilaterally can address these.”
Britain’s BBC considers building in-house AI model
https://arab.news/5duhq
Britain’s BBC considers building in-house AI model
- Organisation is considering partnership arrangement to develop a genAI tool to support its production process
- Broadcaster reported holding talks with technology firms over selling access to its archives to train models
Arab News wins 7 prizes at European Newspaper Awards, led by 50th anniversary coverage
- Anniversary special coverage and film won four Awards of Excellence across multiple categories
LONDON: Arab News won seven prizes at the 27th European Newspaper Awards — four for its 50th anniversary coverage and three for other projects — bringing its total to 160 awards since the 2018 relaunch.
The anniversary coverage earned an Award of Excellence in “Supplement for special occasions and anniversary editions,” plus wins in “Multimedia storytelling” for its special web section and two in “Film” and “Animated films” for its documentary.
Additional honors went to the “Spotlight — 2024 in Review” and “Opinion — 2024” print series in the “Sectional front pages nationwide newspaper” category, and a “Visualization” prize for an image from “Opinion — 2024.”
Launched in 1999 by organizer Norbert Kupper, the awards celebrate print and digital innovation. This year’s contest drew newspapers from 22 countries and more than 3,000 entries across 20 categories, despite fewer print submissions due to rising editorial collaborations.
“It’s testament to the skill, versatility and collaboration between the creative and editorial teams at Arab News that the seven awards at this year’s ENAs spanned print, digital and film categories,” commented Omar Nashashibi, head of creative design at Arab News. “These wouldn’t be possible without the world-class contributors we partner with, and the leadership, vision and support of Editor-In-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.”
Creative Director Simon Khalil called the film wins especially meaningful. “This recognition means a great deal because this film was never just about marking an anniversary, it was about capturing a defining moment in the evolution of Arab News and the region it represents.
“Telling the story, and drama of the 2018 relaunch, the digital transformation, and the courage to become ‘The Voice of a Changing Region’ was both a responsibility and a privilege.”
Past highlights include the “King Charles III Coronation” special coverage, “Kingdom vs. Captagon” investigation and FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 special edition.
See more award-winning projects at arabnews.com/greatesthits.
