Berlin’s public transport association, the BVG, will launch live travel updates for onboard passengers - and use AI to broadcast live updates in English.
For four years, 34-year-old Ulrich Ludwig has sat in an office in Berlin-Lichtenberg closely monitoring train traffic at the city’s 175 U-Bahn stations. Ludwig’s job is to give passengers live travel updates about network disruptions.
Starting this summer, Berliners will be able to put a voice to the name. The BVG has announced that Ludwig’s live, verbal updates will soon be broadcast from the office in Lichtenberg via train tannoy systems.
For the past 20 years, BVG service announcements have been limited to automated warnings about the doors closing or upcoming stations. If trains are more severely disrupted, train drivers may briefly update passengers via the tannoy.
The BVG says Ludwig’s announcements will be more comprehensive and sympathetic. The information manager will provide detailed updates about disruptions, cancellations, emergencies, or police operations, guided by the motto “Erzählen statt quälen” (“explain, don't torture”).
In the lead-up to the launch, linguistic expert and former radio moderator Steffen Popp has been coaching Ludwig, BVG passenger information expert Christopher Land, and other members of the BVG passenger information team on how to find the right tone.
“It’s about forgetting train announcement jargon and using direct announcements to foster more understanding, which might even elicit a smile on passengers’ faces,” Ludwig told MSN.
For now, Ludwig’s announcements will be broadcast to passengers in his native German. But the BVG wants to acknowledge Berlin’s changing face and will soon also run announcements in English, with the help of AI.
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