Tennis Will Be World’s First Sport To Trial AI Commentary At Wimbledon

For soccer fans, the pandemic lockdowns were a low point in the sport’s history when roaring supporters were replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) crowds and fake cheers. Now, it looks like another sport is turning to technology, but this time, to revolutionize commentary.

Tennis will soon be the first sport in the world to trial AI-generated commentary at Wimbledon, as IBM has announced it is teaming up with All England Club to introduce a new tool that will tap on algorithms to produce spiels for all video highlights during the prestigious tournament.

The upcoming competition, which will take place between July 3 and July 16, will see IBM’s AI platform Watsonx take over both audio narration and captions in the highlight videos. To access these clips, fans will have to visit the tournament’s site on their desktop or download the official app.

According to IBM, the AI tool was specifically designed to provide match watchers with “a more insightful experience when catching up on key moments from matches,” calling it an exciting step towards making commentary accessible for matches outside of the Show Courts.

In addition, IBM will be incorporating the IBM AI Draw Analysis, a first-of-its-kind statistic in the sport, which will harness machine learning to determine how favorable the path to the final might be for each player in the draw.

During matches, a player’s draw favorability will be indicated along with a rating based on a scale that measures several factors, such as match-ups against potential future opponents and how one’s position in the draw compares to other competitors.

“We are constantly innovating with our partners at IBM to provide Wimbledon fans, wherever they are in the world, with an insightful and engaging digital experience of The Championships,” said Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing & Commercial Director at The All England Club.

“This year, we’re introducing new features for our digital platforms that use the latest AI technology from IBM to help fans gain even more insight into the singles draw and access commentary on a wider variety of matches through our match highlights videos.”

[via Quartz and The Guardian, cover image via Pod666 | Dreamstime.com]