There is no doubt that technology in sports greatly influences when it comes to crowning champions. We have verified it in specific training, in the famous sharkskin swimsuit or in improvements in performance thanks to AI. Precisely AI is the technology that will have the most presence at the Olympics Paris 2024. These are some examples.
Since the end of last year, the televising of sporting events took a very interesting turn thanks to the use of AI. In December 2023, Fox Cricket premiered its repetition system using artificial intelligence.
AI Replay technology inserts two additional AI-generated frames into each live frame, providing a smoother image that fills the spaces between frames. Thanks to this we will see the repetitions with much more detail (more than double), something that in some sports may not change much, but in those of precision or in which the detail of a movement or an arrival is fundamental, it will be very well received. .
Generative AI also featured prominently during last year's US Masters golf tournament and is now coming to Paris. Thanks to this technology, spectators were able to see every shot, on every hole, of all their favorite players. But there's more, the AI Watson, developed by IBM, managed to introduce player predictions hole by hole. For this trained a model with more than 120,000 professional golf shots over 6 years. The model changes predictions on the fly, taking into account the most recent shot and the player's performance. Something that could allow us to anticipate the results of swimming or athletics races by evaluating the results prior to the final, for example.
Another innovation comes since the International Gymnastics Federation has developed a Judge Support System (JSS) for the 10 gymnastics apparatus. The technology developed uses sensors that allow judges to evaluate the complexities of proceedings of the gymnasts through very detailed image analysis. After an extended trial period, the technology is expected to increase fairness and transparency in performance evaluation.
AI also reaches the sea. The USA Surfing team has been using a Microsoft AIto collect information about athlete performancethe mechanics of surfboards and wave and water patterns.
The exposure of Olympic athletes also sparks unprecedented online criticism and abuse. In response to this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is implementing an artificial intelligence solution for combat online abuse in real time. The technology will identify significant abuse and threats online, to ensure an appropriate response. Following a pilot at Olympic Esports Week, the technology will seek to counter online abuse during the Paris Games.