NBCUniversal has unveiled an AI-powered host for its coverage of Paris 2024.
Streaming service Peacock, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is harnessing Generative AI and AI voice synthesis to provide an AI recreation of Emmy Award-winning Hall of Fame sports announcer Al Michaels’ voice.
Viewers will be able to watch personalised presentations, featuring highlights of events most relevant to them from the previous day. Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock will feature clips from NBCU’s coverage, narrated by the AI recreation, which was trained using Michaels’ past appearances on NBC and matches his elocution.
“When I was approached about this, I was sceptical but obviously curious,” said Michaels. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
Nearly 7 million personalised variants could be streamed across the US during the Games, said the company, generated from NBCUniversal’s 5,000 hours of live coverage from Paris. The recaps will be pulled from hundreds of NBC Sports clips each day, generating a playlist of around 10 minutes with content relevant to each user. NBCU editors will review all content to ensure quality assurance and accuracy before recaps are made available.
Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock and direct-to-conusumer, NBCUniversal, said, “Peacock continues to introduce unique customer-first features that strengthen our unmatched leadership in live streaming.
“With these recaps alongside interactive elements like Peacock Live Actions and Discovery Multiview, we’re bringing the best of sports together with the best of technology to deliver fans a personalised Olympics experience in a way that’s never been possible before.”
