AI At The Paris 2024 Olympics

Uploaded on 2024-08-01 in TECHNOLOGY-Key Areas-Artificial Intelligence, FREE TO VIEW

The 2024 Paris Olympics is drawing the eyes of the world as thousands of athletes and support personnel and hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe converge in France. And it’s not just the eyes of the world that will be watching. Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems will be watching, too.

Government and private companies will be using advanced AI tools and technology to conduct pervasive surveillance before, during and after the Games.

Indeed, the Paris 2024 Olympics is using a number of AI tools with applications from training to broadcasting and this use of AI technology will doubtless have an impact on future sporting events.

AI Measures Spectators Sport Capability

The Official AI Platform Partner for Paris 2024 is Intel whose presence at the Stade de France has generated special interest amongst spectators, as it is offering a tool which can test which sporting activity they might be best physically suited for. Participants enter a dark box to be met with bright lights on the inside, their body measurements are taken with a camera and they are then asked to run on the spot as fast as they can, squeezing a measuring devices, while having their reflexestested by repeatedly touching a flashing light.

This AI technology is used to gather and analyse the body's strengths and weaknesses, to see which of twelve sports the participant is best at. These sports include football, sprinting and table tennis.

The use of this technology is not just for spectators at the Games. It could also be used to identify extraordinary sporting talent anywhere in the world, creating opportunities for developing nations. A version of this tool was tested in Senegal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), when more than 1,000 young people participated and 48 were identified as high performers and subsequently included in a special training programme operated by the Senegalese National Olympic Committee.

Broadcast Applcations

The NBC Universal media company is using AI for its US broadcast of the Games, including recreating the voice of a legendary sportscaster, while the Discovery TV is streaming the Games on its platforms across Europe and are trialling technology capable of near real time translation of commentary into different languages. NBC Universla is offering users event coverage through its Peacock app by creating a daily 10-minute highlight playlist, tailored to each user’s sporting preference. The app uses the AI generated voice of celebrated US commenatator, Al Michaels.

AI Chatbot

AI is also being used by Olympic athletes, for whom Intel has created a chatbot which enables them to ask questions on navigating the Olympic village and facilities across the City of Paris, including where to eat and how to get family members accredited. The Chatbot answers in real time, rendering it much easier for athletes to navigate the Olympic administrative process.

Athletes are also benefitting from the IOC’s AI-powered tool to monitor social media platforms for signs of abuse and to flag suspicious messages.

AI For Spectators

For spectators watching the Games remotely, there is an AI highlights feature which simplifies the search process.
Traditionally, highlights are generated manually, but with AI, opportunities for highlights are much more extensive. Intel's Automatic Highlights Generation system can capture key sporting moments in all sports. It was trained on Olympic archive videos and can be customised to meet the needs of different broadcasters.

Timekeeping

Omega is providing AI-powered tools to ensure accurate results. These includes a stroboscopic tool that will monitor athletes in track & field and diving events, intelligently capturing their smallest movements, both to asses performance and for subsequent training purposes.

AI-Powered Security

The French Prime Minister passed a decree earlier this year allowing the government expanded powers to wiretap, collect geolocation, communications & computer data and to capture extensive visual and audio data from citizens and visitors. This adds to an already far-reaching, experimental video surveillance system that uses AI-powered cameras to flag potential security risks.

These 'algorithmic watchers' are being used widely and this give governments and their technology partners much more data than possible using conventional CCTV and human intelligence methods.

However, AI-enabled surveillance systems are both poorly regulated and subject to very little independent monitoring. The potential for the subsequent misuse of the data collected, including it being stolen and exploited by malicious actors to invade privacy and commit further crimes, is a significant risk..

Image: Ideogram

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