BBC will apply artificial intelligence to better understand the behaviors and needs of its audience

BBC Worldwide and the start-up Thoughtly are launching a project aimed at developing a specific branch of artificial intelligence, called machine learning, applied to television content.

BBC Worldwide has closed an agreement with the start-up specialized in artificial intelligence Thoughtly in order to develop systems that allow us to better understand the behaviors and needs of the audience.

Con la magnitud actual de contenidos producidos, consumidos y distribuidos, la tecnología puede ofrecer una oportunidad para conocer qué géneros son los más demandados y dónde.

Para ello, BBC y Thoughtly han puesto en marcha un proyecto encaminado a desarrollar una rama específica de la inteligencia artificial, denominado aprendizaje automático. Esta técnica permite desarrollar algoritmos capaces de generalizar comportamientos a partir de una información no estructurada.

David Boyle, executive vice president of Insight at BBC Worldwide, believes that this project "can help us reveal unknown and hidden patterns and trends in our content. Working together with Thoughtly, and using machine learning, we are developing a more comprehensive understanding of our content, which can be associated with the most relevant audiences for both BBC Worldwide and our partners."

The experience will allow us to determine the recurring and elusive patterns that transcend the different genres in its catalog or the evolution of the treatment of certain themes or approaches over the years.

Chase Perkins, founder and CEO of Thoughtly, has stressed that "machine learning is emerging as a set of tools for non-technical professionals. If you want people to benefit from AI, you need to provide them with an immersive experience, like an app."