Peter Rhodes on hunting ghosts, saving dialects and the British troops who were not “our” troops
West Midlands Police has asked motorists to share their dashcam footage of dangerous drivers. Unsurprisingly, some law-abiding drivers have voiced misgivings on social media, including the fear of themselves being called as a witness to authenticate the video evidence in court.
This issue goes deeper. We are on the verge of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) revolution when it will be difficult to take anything we see in digital images or video at face value. What is the future for spy cameras? I like to think great brains are working on this.
The row over the BBC not taking sides in Gaza by banning the word “terrorist” has echoes of the 1982 Falklands War. Back then, to the fury of Margaret Thatcher, the Beeb steadfastly refused to refer to “our” troops. In a memo, BBC bosses ordered their journalists: “Not Our Troops - we should try to avoid using ‘our’ when we mean British. We are not Britain. We are the BBC.” Quite so, Auntie. But Britain pays your licence fees.
