In a deal with IBM, the tournament will use IBM’s watsonx to generate automatic, live match commentary and provide video highlight packages as part of the Wimbledon app. These new methods are being deployed to encourage greater audience engagement and interest and by using large language models, IBM foundation models and generative AI it’s hoped that it will be possible to provide a much more ‘personalised’ and accessible service.
According to Kevin Farrar, IBM’s sports partnerships leader, “We have taken an IBM foundation model and trained it in the language of tennis and the language of Wimbledon.”
IBM is also looking at creating AI commentary for full matches that could be modelled on a specific commentator’s voice or style and, in turn, create more personalised narration.
AI-powered tools are already available on the Wimbledon app, including the IBM Power Index Leaderboard, IBM Match Insights and Personalised Highlights Reels and Recommendations.
Should human commentators be worried? Not really, according to IBM. They argue that this technology is seen as a complement to human commentators, but it certainly demonstrates how AI can have an impact on anything and everything.
