http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2482-5181
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Abstract
Automation of journalistic tasks is growing with the development of increasingly sophisticated software for newsgathering, production, and distribution. Bots are one form of algorithmic technology that has found a place in the modern newsroom, with chatbots leading the way as news organisations seek to attract new audiences using conversational forms of journalism. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have fuelled increasing experimentation with machine autonomy and there has been much hyperbole in the press about the extent and impact of this on journalism. Looking at on-the-ground trials in audience-facing bots at the UK’s largest public broadcaster, we find a significantly more restricted picture. News bots at The BBC to-date have been basic, do not use ML, and have rarely been integrated into news production. The organisation is laying groundwork for development of more interactive news formats with an increasingly conversational tone and individual mode of address as part of a strategy for increased personalisation, which is likely to involve growing levels of ML. In the process, bots are reconfiguring working practices and infrastructure, posing new editorial and technical challenges, and redefining relationships with audiences. We discuss the implications of this for public service media.
Notes
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the help of the BBC, where both authors are employed and in particular the team at BBC News Labs.
Disclosure statement
In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligation as researchers, we are reporting that we are both employed by the BBC, which may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper. I have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and I have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this employment.
Notes
1 A distinction can be made between AI and ML, the latter being any technology that allows computers to learn directly from examples and experience in the form of data, and the former being an umbrella term for the science of making machines “intelligent.” There is no agreed definition of AI, but most stress that AI systems are those that automate aspects of human intelligence. ML is a sub-field or narrow application of AI. The BBC is currently thinking about AI largely in terms of ML.
2 Author one is a BBC Broadcast Journalist for BBC News Online and author two is a Senior Researcher in BBC Research & Development.
3 Additionally, there is ongoing work on a “breaking news bot” but this has not yet advanced to trial stage.
4 In 2017, BBC Politics commissioned UK-based bot technology agency The Bot Platform to produce a Brexit Facebook Messenger bot, which used push notifications (e.g., for constituency results), a quiz and news updates. It then hired the same company for the 2017 UK General Election bot, which provided the latest news on the campaign, and information about the parties and their policies. Also in 2017, it launched the NewsChatta chatbot on WeChat for a Nigerian audience, developed again by a third party – Nigerian company Codulab.