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Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Sports Commentary
Sports fans around the world are witnessing a transformation in how their favourite games are narrated. The familiar voice of a human commentator is now sometimes being supplemented or even replaced by the precise, consistent tone of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent sports tournaments such as Wimbledon and the Masters golf have taken the first steps into this new era by utilizing AI to automatically narrate highlight videos on their platforms.
Furthermore, the European Athletics Team Championships in Poland saw a partnership between Eurovision Sport and IBM, where AI provided interlude recaps during the live commentary. This venture into AI for sports broadcasting isn’t an isolated phenomenon. The upcoming U.S. Open is set to harness this technology, showcasing the rapid advancement and adoption of AI in this field.
The inclination towards AI commentary isn’t necessarily an attempt to replace human commentators. Instead, AI is tackling the more tedious aspects of the job, like summarizing events or providing play-by-play announcements for lesser-known matches. The strength of AI lies in its ability to rapidly generate audio commentary, especially for events that previously had none.
IBM's proprietary AI platform, watsonx, was the powerhouse behind the AI commentary during the Masters and Wimbledon. The technology is capable of providing narration for a vast number of video clips, a feat that would be a challenge for human commentators due to the sheer volume.
Despite the potential of AI in broadcasting, there are concerns. Some argue that the AI narration lacks the emotional nuances and the art of commentary, honed through years of experience by human broadcasters. Feedback on the AI narrations at major tournaments has been mixed, with some pointing out its robotic delivery and occasional mispronunciation.
Another interesting development in the realm of AI commentary was the voice cloning of commentator Hannah England for the European Athletics Team Championships. This made the AI voice almost indistinguishable from the real one, leading the organizers to use disclaimers, ensuring transparency with their audience.
However, AI commentary isn’t without its challenges. While it eases the demanding workload on commentators during major tournaments, there are concerns about the economic feasibility and the technology's current value addition. AI's processing time, especially during live matches, and its occasional mispronunciation of players' names or terms, are areas ripe for improvement.
In response to these challenges, companies are investing heavily in research and development. For example, IBM trained its language model for Wimbledon commentary using data from almost 130 million documents. Such advancements are a testament to the potential of AI in sports broadcasting.
The decline in traditional media viewership and the subsequent cost-cutting by media companies further makes AI an attractive solution. It's crucial to understand that AI's role isn’t about replacing human jobs, but rather about assisting and optimising processes. This notion was echoed by IBM, stating that the objective isn't to humanize AI voices but to assist real commentators.
Moreover, AI's language capabilities are advancing. Despite current challenges in producing AI commentary for non-English speaking markets, there is optimism. Companies are exploring dialects and languages, considering the diverse pool of international players and audiences in major sports events.
The future of sports broadcasting is in the midst of transformation. As AI models improve and adapt to the intricacies of commentary, they'll likely become an integral part of the broadcasting world. However, the artistry, experience, and emotion that human commentators bring to the table remain irreplaceable. The ideal future might just be a harmonious blend of both.
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