Broadcast news producer ITN has become the first UK news organisation to announce a deal to protect its archives from AI threats.
The deal with technology company Open Origins will see all of ITN's more than one million news footage video clips verified and secured using blockchain technology.
There are concerns that as AI content becomes more prevalent on the internet, it will become harder to distinguish what is real, and ITN's aim is to provide proof of the originality of its content if it is misused to create disinformation, including deepfakes.
Each item in ITN’s archive will be given a unique identifier on the blockchain, which acts as a mark of provenance indicating that the original, untampered content is secure.
If the archive becomes corrupted and the legitimacy of its content is compromised, all images and videos can be cross-referenced with unique identifiers to learn what has been changed.
The partnership also makes ITN a launch partner of Open Origins' new AI licensing marketplace for video content.
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The marketplace will allow AI apps, companies, universities, and research institutes to access video training data.
Protecting ITN archives “gives peace of mind to viewers and customers”
Tami Hoffman, ITN's director of news distribution and commercial innovation, said: “The ITN Archive is a unique repository of more than 70 years of Britain's cultural history and we're delighted to be able to utilise new technology to help protect this priceless asset.”
“As the information ecosystem becomes increasingly polluted with synthetic material, news organizations will have to work hard to maintain their audiences' trust.”
“Partnering with Open Origins will enable ITN to protect its archives from future threats and provide peace of mind to its viewers and customers.”
ITN, which currently produces ITV News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News, was founded in 1955. The company's other operations include running live sports, producing live debate shows such as ITV's Head to Head for the upcoming UK elections, and producing factual content for international streamers and broadcasters.
“We are reaching a tipping point where human-generated content and AI-generated content will become indistinguishable,” said Dr Mansoor Ahmed Rangers, founder and CEO of Open Origins.
“To prove that content is authentic, Open Origins certifies that it is human-created and copyright compliant.”
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