The eagerly anticipated “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” is set to enhance the viewing experience for the 2024 Summer Olympics by offering personalized daily event summaries narrated by an AI-generated version of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels.
This innovative service will allow users to select their favorite sports and highlight types, receiving a customized 10-minute recap of the previous day’s events, delivered in Michaels’ familiar voice.
Initially hesitant about the concept, Al Michaels gave his approval after seeing a compelling demonstration. Despite his initial skepticism, Michaels, known for his iconic sports commentary, was convinced by the potential of the AI technology to mimic his voice accurately. This endorsement from the Hall of Fame broadcaster underscores the realistic quality of the AI-generated speech.
AI-Powered Daily Olympic Recap Featuring Al Michaels Set to Debut on Peacock for 2024 Summer Games
A demonstration provided to Engadget illustrated the effectiveness of the AI, with the generated voice capturing Michaels’ distinct rhythms and intonations to a remarkable degree.
NBCUniversal achieved this by training the AI on Michaels’ extensive history of broadcasts, ensuring that the recaps sound authentically like him. Michaels, who continues to work in sports broadcasting, has been a familiar voice on NBC Sports since 2006.
The recaps will utilize a vast repository of content, drawing from 5,000 hours of live Olympic coverage to cover up to 40 concurrent events each day. This ambitious undertaking will result in nearly 7 million personalized recap variants. To maintain quality and accuracy, NBCUniversal editors will review all customized content before distribution, a necessary step given the potential for AI errors.
Users can start opting into the personalized recaps on July 27, with the first edition summarizing the Opening Ceremony from the previous day.
As the 2024 Summer Olympics commence in Paris on July 26, viewers can sign up for these tailored updates via Peacock’s Olympics website and mobile app, supporting major browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. This new feature promises to deliver a more engaging and personalized Olympic experience for fans worldwide.
