NBC using AI to recreate Al Michaels’ voice for Olympics recaps
The AI-generated summaries, which mark a significant milestone in media technology, will provide personalised 10-minute highlight packages, including event updates and athlete backstories, tailored to subscriber preferences.
NBC is set to bring sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics with a twist this summer: his voice will be powered by AI. The network announced on Wednesday that AI software will recreate Michaels’ voice to deliver daily recaps of the Summer Games for subscribers of its Peacock streaming platform. That marks a significant milestone for the use of AI by a major media company.
The AI-driven recaps will be part of a new feature called ‘Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,’ offering 10-minute highlight packages. These packages will include event updates, athlete backstories, and other content personalised to subscriber preferences. NBC claims the highlights can be packaged in about 7 million different ways, drawn from 5,000 hours of live coverage from Paris, showcasing the efficiency of AI in delivering tailored content.
Al Michaels expressed initial scepticism about the project but became intrigued after seeing a demonstration. He is being compensated for his involvement. Michaels, known for his long broadcasting career, including the iconic Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics, lent his past NBC broadcast audio to train the AI system. NBC assures that all content will be reviewed by a team of editors for factual accuracy and proper pronunciation. The highlights tool will be available on Peacock via web browsers and iOS and iPadOS apps starting 27 July.
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