BBC trials generative AI subtitles on BBC Sounds

BBC Sounds currently produces approximately 27,000 hours of content per month – but much of it can be difficult to access for the approximately 18m people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus in the UK.

As a result, the BBC has been exploring ways to add subtitles so people can follow the audio with the help of text.

Doing this manually would be time consuming and prohibitively expensive, according to Aniruddh Dimri, Head of Product at BBC Sounds.

“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,” said Dimri.

The BBC has been using speech-to-text AI tool Whisper AI to quickly generate a high-quality transcript of the audio. This is reviewed by a member of the editorial team, and edited where necessary. A final transcript can then be uploaded with the audio on BBC Sounds.

For the next three months, the BBC is running a limited trial to add subtitles and transcripts to a select range of audio content for the first time on BBC Sounds.

The trial has started on the web and Android app versions of BBC Sounds, and will come to iOS in the coming weeks. The programmes included in the trial will be In Touch, Access All, Profile, Sporting Witness and Economics with Subtitles, and more programmes will be added across the course of the trial.

Dimri said: “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. 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.”