BBC News to create AI department to offer more personalised content

BBC News is to create a new department that will use AI to give the public more personalised content, as its leader said the corporation had been “defying gravity” in reaching audiences amid seismic changes in the way news is consumed.

In a note to staff seen by the Guardian, Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, announced an overhaul of the organisation’s structure, including the creation of a new department, BBC News growth, innovation and AI. It will have a particular focus on under-25s, amid a huge shift to news consumption on smartphones and on platforms such as TikTok.

Turness said the corporation had to act fast to counter a series of headwinds including “the growing trend of news avoidance, the growth of news consumption on social platforms, increased digital competition and inevitable broadcast decline”.

It is understood that measures could include deploying AI to curate stories for users on their phones, based on their previous consumption, in a way that suits those used to consuming content served up by social media.

“We must become ruthlessly focused on understanding our audience needs, on delivering the kind of journalism and content they want, in the places they want it, designed and produced in the shape that they enjoy it,” Turness said.

“We must do this on platforms that deliver a best-in-class consumer experience, offering personalisation, recommendation and unique user journeys. And we must deploy AI to support, enable and accelerate our innovation and growth.”

News organisations across the board are grappling with how AI should be deployed. Some outlets are already going much further, using the technology to summarise articles or to rewrite articles for different audiences. However, a recent BBC study into the leading AI assistants found they had a tendency to create distortions, factual inaccuracies and misleading content in response to questions about news and current affairs.

The corporation has previously pledged that its use of AI “will always be in line with its public service values”, and said it must never undermine the trust of audiences and must always be used in “a manner consistent with BBC editorial values, in particular of accuracy, impartiality, fairness and privacy”.

In her memo, Turness said the changes were part of a plan to “reshape BBC News”, designed to ensure its journalism reaches “the widest possible audience, regardless of where or how they find us”. The overhaul will also include the creation of a second new department, BBC live and daily news. She said its arrival would mean the end of “traditional newsroom silos” and make sure that content produced by the newsroom would work across all platforms, including traditional bulletins, online and on the BBC News app.

She told staff BBC News was defying gravity in its reach while operating in a “fiercely competitive digital environment and fighting against long-term broadcast decline as audience habits shift”. She revealed that the BBC News app had overtaken Apple News as the No 1 UK news app, despite the Apple app being pre-installed on every iPhone.

A director is to be appointed to the new growth, innovation and AI department, tasked with working with news bosses to “develop, deliver and test our critical investments and innovations, and measure their consumer impact”.