The UK government wants the BBC to help Brits understand AI and develop basic technology skills as part of the public broadcaster's next charter period.
In its charter review published on December 16, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) says it wants the Beeb to become a "trusted guide" in navigating technological change.
"In particular, we want the BBC to support basic and universal skills on the one hand, and on the other to help the public understand AI, engage with it constructively and understand its impacts."
This could include teaching people to recognize AI-generated content, assess its reliability, and learn basic prompting skills.
The aims echo the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, which launched in 1979, contributing to the UK's home computing boom of the 1980s. That initiative produced a series of programmes to educate people about software and hardware, including The Computer Programme, Making the Most of the Micro, and Micro Live.
The project led to co-development of the BBC Microcomputer, which Cambridge-based computer maker Acorn launched in 1981, selling more than 1.5 million units. Acorn developed the Arm processor in 1985, and in 1990 set up Arm as a joint venture with Apple and VLSI Technology. The tech has since been included in more than 325 billion devices.
DCMS also wants the BBC to explain how it uses AI internally – something the corporation has already committed to through transparency principles published last year.
The broadcaster is using generative AI to write text for the BBC Sounds app, based on its live radio commentary of some football matches, though its research has found that AI chatbots often can't reliably summarize BBC news stories.
The charter review, which will shape the BBC's goals for the decade from January 2028, explores alternative funding models including advertising on its UK website or across all platforms, subscriptions for some content, and increased commercial revenues.
DCMS wants to work with the BBC on whether its archives could be used to train AI to generate revenue, and suggests the corporation could use AI to lower its costs as well as supporting smaller public service media organizations in negotiating with AI companies. ®
Source: The register