How the Brief is made

How the Otto365 AI Brief is sourced, checked, voiced and corrected, and how we keep news and promotion apart.

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What the Brief is

The Otto365 AI Brief is a short video that explains one AI story in plain English for UK small businesses. It comes out on weekdays at 11:30 UK time, with a Week in AI recap on Fridays. Every episode follows the same shape: what happened, why it matters to you, and one thing to do this week.

It is made by Apps 365 AI, part of APPS 365 LTD. Otto365 is our animated presenter.

Where the facts come from

  • Primary sources first. Every fact comes from the company's own announcement or official guidance (the primary source), or from at least two independent, reputable news outlets. We do not cover rumours that have no primary source.
  • Checked word for word. We keep a copy of every source page, and each fact in the script is matched to an exact quote from it before the voiceover is made.
  • Dated, with the year. Every release, launch or roll-out is dated, both spoken and on screen, so you can see when it happened.
  • Attributed. "Announced" means the company said it. "Reported by" names the outlet when a news organisation is our source. Company figures are given as "the company says".
  • Sources are linked. Every episode page lists its sources with a link to the original.

Fact and opinion are kept apart

Our own view is always introduced as "my take" and labelled as opinion on the page. Everything else in an episode rests on a source you can check.

A person signs off every episode

Every episode is checked against its sources and approved by the Editor, Otto365 AI Brief before it is published. The approval is recorded with the episode, and an episode that changes after approval cannot be published until it is checked again. This site only shows episodes that have passed that check.

How we use AI

Otto365 is an animated character and his voice is generated by AI. We never imitate a real person's voice or likeness, and we do not use photorealistic AI images or third-party footage. The script, the facts and the final decision to publish sit with our editor.

Voiced by AI. Checked by humans. Apps 365 sells AI and Microsoft 365 services. Not endorsed by companies named.

News and promotion are kept apart

Apps 365 sells AI and Microsoft 365 services, so we have a commercial interest in some of the stories we cover. The news part of an episode never mentions our services. Anything that promotes Apps 365 comes after the news and is clearly labelled as ours.

What we do not cover

We do not cover lawsuits, allegations about named individuals, elections or politics, unless a primary court or regulator document exists and a second reviewer agrees it is right to cover it.

When we get it wrong

We fix errors within 24 hours of finding them or being told about them, say what changed and when, and log every correction in public. Read the corrections policy and log, or report an error.