Our AI writing assistant, WriteUp, can assist you in easily writing any text. Click here to experience its capabilities.

That sports broadcaster you hear could be AI

View Original View Raw

Summary

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in sports broadcasting, with major competitions such as the Masters golf and Wimbledon tennis championships using the tech to automatically narrate highlight videos. AI is being used to provide recaps and do play-by-play announcing for less notable matches. AI is being used to quickly generate audio commentary and cover events that didn't have commentary before. Some people have speculated that AI could eventually replace human commentators, but representatives of the firms using AI say that it is not meant to replace commentators but to assist them. AI commentary at major tournaments such as the Masters and Wimbledon have been met with both positive and negative reactions, with some criticizing the AI for its bot-like delivery and lack of emotion. Eurovision Sports used AI to clone a commentator's voice, prompting them to add disclaimers before the AI speaks. AI has become a cost-cutting measure for media companies, and while it is still expensive and time-consuming to use AI, its language capabilities are improving. IBM is exploring dialects and languages to add to its AI commentary moving forward.

Q&As

What applications of AI are being used in sports broadcasting?
AI is being used to automatically narrate certain highlight videos, provide recaps in between live commentary, and do play-by-play announcing on less notable matches.

How does AI help reduce the workload for commentators?
AI helps reduce the workload for commentators by taking on the tedious parts of the job, such as summarizing events and play-by-play announcing. It also allows for more video clips to be narrated quickly and for events that didn't have commentary before to be covered.

What feedback have audiences given about AI commentary?
Audiences have given both positive and negative feedback on the AI commentary. Some have criticized it for its botlike delivery and lack of emotion or voice modulation.

What ethical considerations are taken into account when using AI voices?
When using AI voices, ethical considerations are taken into account to ensure accuracy and to inform listeners that what they're hearing is not a real human. This is done by adding disclaimers before the AI speaks and by using text-to-speech capabilities.

How has AI language capabilities progressed and what languages are being explored for AI commentary?
AI language capabilities have progressed and IBM is exploring dialects and languages to add to its AI commentary, such as English, in consideration of international players and audiences.

AI Comments

👍 This article is very informative and provides an interesting insight into how AI is being used in the sports broadcasting world. It's great to see AI being used to make the broadcasting process more efficient and provide a better experience for viewers.

👎 This article fails to address the ethical and moral implications of using AI in sports broadcasting, and does not discuss the potential downsides of using AI commentators instead of real people.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about AI being used in sports broadcasting, specifically for providing recaps and highlights and for summarizing events and play-by-play announcing. It also talks about the implications of AI being used for tasks that could be performed by humans, such as job security and performance comparisons between AI and humans. It also discusses the feedback from patrons and potential ethical and financial considerations.

Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. It's definitely a sign of the times that AI is being used in sports broadcasting. It makes me wonder if AI will eventually replace human commentators, and how that could affect employment for sports broadcasters. It's also concerning that AI could be used to deceive people by making it difficult to distinguish between a real and AI voice. Do you think AI will have a big impact on sports broadcasting?

Me: I think AI could definitely have a big impact on sports broadcasting, especially since it can cover events that didn't have commentary before and cut down on the demanding workload of human commentators. However, I don't think AI will completely replace human commentators as there are still aspects of the job that AI can't do, such as conveying emotion and engaging audiences. It'll be interesting to see how AI will continue to be used in the sports broadcasting industry.

Action items

Research the current AI technology being used in sports broadcasting and the potential for AI to replace human commentators in the future.
Explore the ethical implications of using AI in sports broadcasting, such as the use of voice cloning and the potential for AI to mispronounce players' names.
Investigate the cost-saving benefits of using AI in sports broadcasting and the potential for AI to reduce the workload of commentators.

Technical terms

AI (Artificial Intelligence): AI is a type of computer technology that is designed to simulate human intelligence and behavior. It is used to automate tasks, make decisions, and solve problems.
Generative AI: Generative AI is a type of AI that is used to generate new data from existing data. It is used to create new content, such as audio commentary, from existing data.
Voice Cloning: Voice cloning is a process of creating a digital copy of a person's voice. It is used to create AI voices that sound like a real person.
Text-to-Speech: Text-to-speech is a technology that converts written text into spoken words. It is used to create AI voices that can read out text.