Olympics: Peacock to Offer Personalized Daily Recaps Featuring A.I.-Generated Voice of Al Michaels
Do you believe in A.I.-generated miracles?
Peacock subscribers wanting to be dialed into the Summer Olympics (kicking off July 27 in Paris and airing across NBCUniversal platforms) will have the option of receiving daily, personalized recaps that feature the voice of Emmy-winning, Hall of Fame announcer Al Michaels.
Powered by generative A.I. and A.I. voice synthesis technology, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” will serve up a playlist of highlights of the events most relevant to each user, featuring clips from NBCU’s Paris Games coverage and narrated by “a high-quality A.I. re-creation of Michaels’ voice, which was trained using his past appearances on NBC and matches his signature expertise and elocution.”
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” (the real?) Al Michaels said in a statement. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
The “Daily Olympic Recap” technology was demonstrated for the press ahead of its Wednesday unveiling at NBCUniversal’s One Month Out press event, and it has the A.I.-generated Michaels addressing the subscriber by first name and using segues à la “Since you’re a swimming fan….”
Said Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal, “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 personalized Olympics experience in a way that’s never been possible before.”
“Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” will be available to Peacock subscribers on all supported browsers as well as on the Peacock app via select mobile and tablet devices. To sign up, visit the Olympic hub on Peacock starting July 27 and opt into the types of highlights you’d like to see, including your three favorite sports (see screenshot above) and your preferred topics (e.g. behind-the-scenes, backstories, top competition, viral moments, spotlight on international teams). The first edition on July 27 will be highlights from the Opening Ceremony; starting July 28, following the first full day of events, personalized versions for each user will be available.
The “Daily Olympic Recap” technology will pull from hundreds of NBC Sports-produced clips each day to generate a playlist of around 10 minutes (see screenshot above), highlighting the moments most relevant for each user, along with a look ahead to that evening’s NBC Primetime show. A team of (presumably human?) NBCU editors will review all content, including audio and clips, for quality assurance and accuracy before recaps are made available to users.
Please..time to stop it
Just no.
They should take it further and fake all the events and athletes.
I appreciate all the snark in this article, because… this is … very odd. So not here for the future.