In an effort to enhance fan engagement, Wimbledon 2023 will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI)-generated commentary and player analysis to provide a more profound insight into the prestigious tennis tournament. The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and technology giant IBM announced their collaboration on implementing this innovative technology across Wimbledon’s online platforms.
The AI commentary feature, developed with IBM’s WatsonX technology, will generate audio and captions for match highlights videos, providing insights into key moments using tennis-specific language. While human commentary is currently provided for major matches on Wimbledon’s “show courts”, this move aims to include expert narration for seniors, juniors, and wheelchair matches as well.
Usama Al-Qassab, the marketing and commercial director at the AELT, stated that the AI features would mean fans can access commentary on a “wider variety of matches.” Meanwhile, Jonathan Adashek, IBM’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, recognized the potential of AI technologies to enhance major sporting events like Wimbledon, drawing in larger audiences by delivering exceptional digital experiences.
IBM, an official partner of the championships since 1990, offers a range of AI-powered analysis tools for Wimbledon, including a player ‘Power Index,’ match insights, and personalized highlights reels. Additionally, their draw analysis feature will introduce a new statistic that assesses the favorability of each player’s path to the singles final.
Reports suggest that IBM researchers had already been working on AI software capable of play-by-play commentary on sports matches as early as 2019. More recently, the company added computer-generated commentary to clips of the Masters Tournament golf championship in April.
While this revolutionary technology appears set to provide a significant enhancement to the sports-viewing experience for fans, it does raise questions about its potential impact on traditional commentary roles. Will AI-generated commentary be able to capture the nuance, emotion, and humor often associated with human insight? And, will the adoption of such technology across various sports events eventually lead to a reduction in opportunities for human commentators?
Despite these concerns, Wimbledon’s embracement of AI-generated commentary and analysis represents a significant leap forward in sports technology innovation, laying the groundwork for a potentially transformative future in which AI and humans coexist to provide spectators with engaging, insightful, and entertaining experiences.
Source: Cointelegraph
