AI at Paris 2024: how Olympics will be testing ground for new tech

The tried and true idea of athletic competition, and more specifically, the Summer 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, are about to collide with the fast-evolving sector of Artificial Intelligence.

The collision is not unexpected, however. Back in April, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched its comprehensive strategy for AI and sports, titled The Olympic AI Agenda.

This strategy not only sets the stage for AI's role in enhancing athlete support but also seeks to reassure that AI is here to complement, not replace, human performance.

IOC President Thomas Bach emphasised this distinction during the launch event, affirming that AI's potential lies in augmenting athlete capabilities rather than supplanting them in essential aspects like athletic performance.

“In sport, the performance will always have to be delivered by the athlete. The 100 metres will always have to be run by an athlete – a human being,” he said.

The agenda was developed by the AI Working Group, which was composed of AI pioneers, academics, athletes and technology companies.

A comprehensive review of AI applications in sports was conducted by the group, focusing on areas where the IOC could lead the Olympic Movement and shape its future.

Bolstering cybersecurity for athletes

Among the many issues addressed during the AI group's discussions was Paris Olympics' efforts towards gender parity as well as the increasing online violence directed towards women in sports.

“Popular athletes, especially, face significant backlash if their performance on a given day doesn't meet expectations,” Sarah Walker, the Olympic silver medallist in BMX, IOC member, vice-chairwoman of the IOC Athletes' Commission, and member of the AI Working Group told The National.

Looking ahead to Paris 2024, the New Zealand BMX racer added that every athlete's social media will be monitored for hate comments, with AI technology promptly removing them before athletes can see them.

The committee is collaborating with a provider to implement extensive AI-driven coverage to create digitally secure environments during the Olympic Games, said Kirsty Burrows, head of Safe Sport Unit at the IOC during the launch event.

This includes utilising AI to monitor millions of data points in real time to detect and address targeted online abuse towards athletes and officials.

Speaking about the rapid advancements in the AI industry, Ms Walker, a member of the IOC since 2016, emphasised the importance for the committee to stay current and establish a strategy.

“I feel like the IOC is an organisation that if they don't do anything until a year or two from now, they're going to be so far behind, and trying to catch up is going to be hard for them,” she said.

Ms Walker reflected on the potential for both the positive impacts of AI as well as the altruistic goals of sport, to both be amplified with so many people turning their attention to the Olympic Games.

“AI could provide more opportunities for athletes to showcase the full capabilities of the human body,” she said, referring to the various AI implementations from technology and media companies throughout the games.

Talent scouting with AI

The IOC is utilising AI is to ensure that equal opportunities are presented to as many nations as possible across racial and economic lines, said Amit Joshi, Professor and AI Expert at IMD Business School, and member of the AI Working Group.

With AI's potential to identify talent from all corners of the world, Prof Joshi said that the future of diversity and inclusivity in sport is looking more hopeful than ever.

“There might be a dozen Michael Phelps running around in different parts of the world, but we will never know this because they've never had the opportunity to compete, and we have no way of identifying that these people can be elite,” Prof Joshi told The National.

However, partners for the Paris 2024 Olympics such as Intel Corporation and Samsung Electronics are helping to advance the identification process through their various AI endeavours and projects.

Together, the tech giants have deployed an AI-powered talent identification system that attendees can test at the Stade Da France, France's most prominent sports stadium, which has been transformed into the Olympic Stadium.

With Samsung's smartphones, tablets, computer vision technology and Intel's cloud-based AI, participants can perform various sports-related exercises and then receive Intel's suggestions on which Olympic sport they should pursue.

Intel piloted this initiative in Senegal with the Senegalese National Olympic Committee, where local youth who showed potential as athletes for the Youth Olympic Games scheduled for 2026 were identified.

“Now, with this technology, we could use it to provide more opportunities and accelerate their progress. This way, it's not only the typically wealthy nations with exceptional resources, infrastructure, and systems that excel,” Prof Joshi explained.

Voice clones and expedited video editing

Last month, American television network NBC announced that an AI-generated clone of the renowned sports broadcaster Al Michaels will narrate daily streaming recaps of the Summer Olympics.

It introduced Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock, a tool featuring narration from an AI recreation of Mr Michaels' voice.

This particular implementation of AI was trained using his previous NBC appearances to replicate his distinct delivery style.

“When I was approached about this, I was sceptical but obviously curious. Then, I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, 'I'm in.',” Mr Michaels said.

The tool also features 10-minute highlights packages, which include event updates, athlete backstories and other related content personalised by subscriber preferences.

The company said the highlights from 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris could be packaged in 7 million ways, allowing broadcasters to focus on more critical tasks while AI features deliver customised recaps more efficiently.

Prof Joshi noted that the Olympics will run for 17 days, and hundreds of events will take place at the same time with different types of audiences, so this feature will be convenient for many who may miss an event due to time zone differences.