Paris Olympics broadcasters diverge on AI approach

By Sheila Dang

(Reuters) - The Paris Olympics will be a showcase of generative AI for American viewers but European audiences won't see a similar approach, a contrast that reflects how global media companies are deliberating over the use of the technology.

Comcast's NBCUniversal is diving into AI for its U.S. broadcast of the Games, including re-creating the voice of a legendary sportscaster, while Warner Bros. Discovery's sports division in Europe said the tech is still too nascent for roles such as sports commentating.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which will stream the Games on its Max and discovery+ streaming platforms across Europe, received demos from tech companies to translate speech into other languages but the demos have lacked the emotion that comes with heart-racing sports moments, said Scott Young, senior vice president at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe.

"In every part of their (demos), it feels like yes, you've translated the words correctly, but you haven't translated or narrated the feeling," he said.

For instance, when Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs stunned the world by winning gold in the men's 100 metres in Tokyo, Italian commentators screamed their reactions, showing the genuine moment of "experts sitting side-by-side, really living out that story," Young said. "It is very hard to automatically generate that."

Meanwhile, U.S. audiences will experience AI when they watch the Games on NBC or streaming service Peacock due to a new partnership between NBCUniversal, Google and Team USA.

AI-enhanced Google Map images of the Olympic venues will help viewers get a feel of Paris and NBC's hosts will demonstrate how Google AI search can answer questions about the competitions.

NBCUniversal will also use generative AI to create personalised daily briefings of the Olympic events, which will be narrated by an AI re-creation of sports commentator Al Michaels' voice.

Almost seven million different variations of the daily recaps could be created over the course of the Paris Olympics, NBCUniversal said.

The media company has the largest Olympics broadcast rights deal in the world and paid $7.65 billion to air the Games through 2032.

The Olympic Broadcasting Services, which produces neutral coverage that can be used by media companies around the world, is also embracing AI to assist with quickly cutting vast amounts of footage into brief highlights, but previously told Reuters it remained wary of the risks of deepfakes and "tampering with reality."

Given how quickly AI capabilities are advancing, it may not be long until European sports fans see more of the technology.

"We're probably just one Summer Games away from where the real impact will be for us," Young said.

The next Summer Games are the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)