Wimbledon is the latest sporting event to introduce artificial intelligence into its tournaments. This year, the digital presentation of Wimbledon is a little different. IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) has been Wimbledon’s official technology supplier for the last 30 years. The tennis event that reaches over 20 million worldwide is using AI technology to power its AI-generated audio and text commentary. Generative AI refers to the creation of audio, text, images and more from a human prompt. Commonly used in ChatGPT or Midjourney, Generative AI is now becoming more influential in voice development.
Wimbledon maintains that it still celebrates the human voice and intends to have familiar voices like John McEnroe doing live commentary. Instead, the AI is there to “complement the human element, rather than replace” (IBM’s Kevin Farrar) during periods of the tournament where there isn’t a real human available. The Generative AI is used in the highlights, the Wimbledon application and in a chatbot system where the chatbot creates tennis-style commentary.
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How are Wimbledon using Generative AI
Wimbledon is using Watsonx AI to create audio commentary and captions for its highlight packages. Watsonx is IBM’s enterprise AI and data platform trained in the ‘unique language of tennis’.
Despite the additional of new AI generated features, Wimbledon’s use of AI is not completely new. With the assistance of IBM’s technology, the player power index has previously been generated. The player power index is one of the tools used to analyse how a player is performing.
To get access to the innovative AI packages, fans can access through the Wimbledon app or on the tournament’s official website. GameOn Technology CEO, Alex Beckman are claiming that Wimbledon’s AI method has a successful track record and will enhance engagement.
