Announced by NBC The company announced Wednesday that it will use artificial intelligence to recreate the voice of famous sportscaster Al Michaels as a new tool aimed at complementing its traditional coverage of this summer’s Olympics.
Called “Peacock’s Olympics Daily,” the tool uses AI software to create a personalized 10-minute playlist of the previous day’s competition highlights. The daily is narrated using an AI recreation of Michaels’ voice, which the company said in a press release “matches his signature expertise and eloquence.”
The announcement comes as AI becomes increasingly prevalent in everyday life, raising questions about its role in creative industries, including journalism and media, concerns that Michaels seemed to acknowledge in a statement in the press release.
“When I heard about it, I was skeptical, but of course I was interested,” Michaels said. “Then I saw a demonstration that detailed what they had in mind, and I said, ‘I’m in.'”
NBC said that NBCUniversal’s editorial team reviews all content, including audio and clips, included in the summaries “for quality assurance and accuracy before the summaries are made available to users.”
NBC said the technology draws from hundreds of clips NBC Sports produces each day, totaling 5,000 hours of live coverage from Paris, where as many as 40 events can be taking place simultaneously. The AI technology will enable the production of approximately 7 million personalized versions of each day’s report.
The tool will be available to subscribers to NBC’s streaming platform Peacock, and users can access the recaps from the homepage or “Olympics Hub.” The opening ceremony will take place on July 27. The personalized daily recaps will be available from July 28, following the conclusion of the first day of events.
