World Service radio show will release five video adaptations of recent episodes on YouTube

Witness History BBC World Service

BBC World Service programme Witness History will release five video adaptations of recent episodes on YouTube, all animated with AI tools. 

The project aims to extend the reach of the show, which is normally audio-only. 

The first animated episode, The World’s First Labradoodle, will be available on the BBC World Service YouTube channel on 1 March. It will be followed by animated versions of Brazil’s Biggest Bank Heist; Ramesses II’s ‘Mummy Makeover’; The Discovery of Lord Sipan in Peru; and Arrested for Playing Football in Brazil.

The episodes have been made into video by 1UpMedia, which markets itself as, “a podcast-to-video studio,” that uses AI in all of its projects. It says that a human is always involved in the process to guise the AI, they use a variety of different AI tools on each project, all AI tools are used with commercial licences, and that credit is always given to contributors and artists. 

1UpMedia also claimsit can produce the first video for a podcast in roughly two weeks, including time for edits and sign offs, before then producing them weekly when the artistic direction is decided. 

Fred Durman, head of business development, BBC World Service, said: “This exciting project uses generative AI to give a second life to our original programming, enabling us to reach new audiences in a novel way.”

Anna Doble, digital editor at the BBC World Service, said: “We’re exploring using AI technology to help bring these fascinating audio stories from Witness History to life in visual form. We look forward to hearing how new audiences respond to this new approach.”

Guang Jin Yeo, animator at 1UpMedia, added: “By thoughtfully adapting these Witness History stories into video, we have produced an animation to accompany the audio that doesn’t compromise the depth and care that defines the programme. Using generative AI allows us to unlock the extraordinary BBC World Service archive of narrative audio for visual audiences who may never have encountered it before.”