AI Takes Center Court at Wimbledon: A New Era in Tennis Commentary

Having an AI commentate your tennis game sounds science fiction. But, the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Wimbledon Championships are poised to take a major step into the future with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a component of the tournament’s coverage. IBM’s latest invention is made to improve the lives of tennis enthusiasts everywhere.

Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence platform, has been trained to understand and exploit the specialized tennis language and stats. Insightful commentary and captions for the tournament’s coverage will be provided by the AI system thanks to this function. The introduction of AI into sports coverage, especially at Wimbledon, heralds a radical change in the way we take in sports journalism.

IBM has been working with the All England Club to give their AI access to player data like as the Power Index. The AI’s commentary and captioning, which will be informed by this data, will be a fresh take on the action.

The system will initially be implemented for online highlight reels, but live AI commentary is a promising future application. If this happens, it will be a major step toward using AI in sports broadcasting. Will the robot show as much excitement and thrill for the game? Now, that is still undecided.

Not for the first time has Wimbledon embraced artificial intelligence (AI). Since 2017, Wmbledon has used a variety of AI generator commentary, such as Stat packs, including the Power Index, and other performance measures,  Using AI technology shows that Wimbledon is dedicated to progress and improving the game for fans. However, the technology has certainly been met with many critics.

IBM’s Kevin Farrar assured everyone that despite the buzz surrounding this AI advancement, it is not meant to replace human opinion.

Farrar argued that AI should be used to supplement human effort rather than replace it.

For matches that don’t have it yet, such seniors’, juniors’, and wheelchair events, Farrar highlighted that the goal of the AI technology is to support and enhance human commentary.

While AI-based commentary is still in its infancy, it has enormous growth potential. If intellectual property laws are observed, it is technically possible to teach the AI to emulate the styles of particular commentators.

Computers can provide analysis on more than only the Wimbledon finals. It’s gaining popularity in a wide range of fields, from athletics to television news. To amplify the EBU’s YouTube coverage of the European Athletics Championship, the network is considering cloning the voice of commentator Hannah England.

Artificial intelligence’s debut at Wimbledon heralds a radical change in the way sports are covered on television. Improving the viewer experience without losing the human element that makes sports broadcasting so compelling is a top priority for the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence.

The introduction of AI into Wimbledon’s broadcasts marks the beginning of a new era in tennis commentary, where the best of both technological advancement and human understanding are combined to create a more engaging and informative show for viewers.

First reported on Fox News

Originally published on ReadWrite.