This Year's Wimbledon Will Have AI-Generated Commentary
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand its reach into the world of sports, with tennis being the latest arena to embrace this technology. The All England Club, the host of Wimbledon, recently announced that video highlights packages for the renowned tennis tournament will now feature commentary provided by AI.
The development could pave the way for the introduction of AI-generated commentary for live matches in upcoming tournaments.
The All England Club has employed AI in previous editions of Wimbledon, using IBM’s technology, to produce stats and player power indices. However, the integration of AI technology to create audio commentary represents a first for the tournament that begins on July 3.
According to The Guardian, the groundbreaking feature will be made available through the official Wimbledon app and website. Additionally, it will be made exclusive to the BBC's tournament coverage.
IBM's watsonx AI service, equipped with a specialised tennis vocabulary, will be used to produce the commentary. Various data from the tennis court is obtained and fed into IBM's chatbot-style systems to generate tailored commentary in natural lingo specific to tennis and the tournament.
The AI-generated commentary can also be converted into audio commentary using another AI system, offering near-real-time coverage.
IBM considers this move as a stepping stone towards the goal of providing AI commentary for entire matches. The technology also makes it possible to examine a player’s trajectory throughout the tournament.
It is also quite possible to clone a commentator’s voice – such as John McEnroe – to use in the coverage. However, IBM said that the voice isn’t based on a specific person, but is completely generated.
The announcement follows the European broadcasting union's decision earlier this month that the cloned voice of the commentator Hannah England will be used to provide commentary for the European Athletics Championships.
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