The BBFC has clarified its plans to use AI technology in the classification of films, TV shows and streaming content in a statement given to Film Stories.
The BBFC – which is responsible for age classification guidelines across the cinema and terrestrial TV industries in the UK – published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2023 yesterday (13th November), in which it reiterated its commitment to the use of AI following a collaboration with Amazon Web Services announced last summer.
After Film Stories got in touch, we’ve now got slightly more clarification on what the AI tools in development might look like, including a more precise look at how generative AI will be used in the classification of video content.
The Board’s annual report already reiterated the ongoing development of two distinct AI tools, designed to be used in concert with each other. By using human-generated metadata, the first tool in development would allow for comparative ratings for the huge volume of films and TV shows added daily to streaming platforms using the streamers’ existing classification metrics. If Disney+ has used its own criteria to label a show as containing strong violence and drug use, for example, those tags could then be automatically used to assign the equivalent BBFC certificate containing those issues (not a PG, we reckon), and vice versa.
This would be particularly relevant for Prime Video, with whom the Board has an ongoing partnership: as well as producing their own TV and film content, the platform is also home to a huge variety of less stringently curated content, like this live-action Yu-Gi-Oh! fan film from 2022.
The second tool – which the BBFC has stressed is still in a research and development stage – takes things a step further. The spokesperson says the programme “will use generative AI to identify and produce compliance metadata related to various issues within video content,” seemingly paving the way for artificial creation of content tags – like the aforementioned drugs and violence – without the use of human-generated metadata.
Read more: Five Nights At Freddy’s was the BBFC’s most complained about film of 2023
“When launched, this tool will offer large-scale efficiencies to content providers’ compliance requirements and make existing and new processes more cost-effective for large volumes of content,” the spokesperson added.
They also stressed that the human aspect of compliance “will always be imperative to the compliance process and remain at the heart of what we do,” though it’s not yet clear where the human aspect of the equation will fit in with regards to the second tool.
Earlier this year, Disney was singled out by MPs during the debate surrounding the 2024 Media Act, which passed in May. At the time, the Conservative MP for South West Devon, Sir Gary Streeter, said confusion over rating standards “[had] seen Disney Plus classify scenes of sexual abuse as suitable for nine-year-olds.”
While Netflix and Apple have now rolled out BBFC ratings across their services, Disney+ and Prime Video have been slower to universally bring their standards in line. The House of Mouse in particular uses its own classification system, which categorises films at two-year age intervals, and has no partnership with the BBFC. Recent adult hit Rivals, for example, is categorised as suitable for ages 18+ on the streamer, but no classification exists on the BBFC website.
And while Prime Video continues to use BBFC ratings across sections of its platform, the take-up is not universal. When this story was first published, the most popular TV series on the streamer, Paris Has Fallen, had not been rated by the Board, and was instead labelled as suitable for ages 16+. It has since been updated to the BBFC 15 classification.
More on this story when we have it.
—Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website:
Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.
Buy our Film Stories and Film Junior print magazines here.
Become a Patron here.
