ESPN’s subsequent sports activities commentator is an AI avatar

In case you’re a football fan and involved in AI, you will be intrigued to listen to what ESPN is planning to introduce to its faculty soccer protection.

ESPN has announced it’s trialing a brand new AI avatar referred to as FACTS, which the community will take a look at on its fashionable faculty soccer present, SEC Nation. FACTS is being constructed to ship “pre-game discussions, selling schooling and enjoyable round sports activities analytics.” The info shall be sourced from ESPN Analytics, which incorporates information like participant and group statistics, sport schedules and the Soccer Energy Index (FPI). ESPN made the announcement at its fourth annual ESPN Edge convention.

It is unclear when the AI avatar will make its debut, as ESPN says “integration timing remains to be being mentioned.” FACTS is constructed on Nvidia Omniverse, and is built-in with Azure OpenAI to deal with language processing and ElevenLabs, an AI audio platform, for text-to-speech capabilities. The generative AI avatar is being developed on the ESPN Edge Innovation Heart.

FACTS is supposed to enrich on-air expertise

ESPN says FACTS is not going to exchange journalists

With the rise of AI over the previous couple of years, one concern about it has at all times been what its impact might be on the job market. On this case, the impact it might have on journalists at ESPN.

In a press release, ESPN states its new AI avatar is “completely not” meant to exchange journalists or on-air-talent. “FACTS is designed to check improvements out out there and create an outlet for ESPN Analytics’ information to be accessible to followers in an attractive and pleasing phase,” ESPN said. “It enhances our journalists and on-air expertise, offering further insights.”

This is not the primary time ESPN has utilized AI applied sciences. Earlier this 12 months, the sports activities community added generative AI to its web site by way of AI-written sport recaps. It is onerous to evaluate ESPN’s FACTS AI avatar with out first seeing it in motion, nevertheless it’ll be attention-grabbing to see if it has any character to it, and the way faculty soccer followers react to AI giving them analytics over a human being. Do AI analysts have a job in the way forward for dwell sports activities? FACTS might be the primary actual take a look at.

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