How AI and technology is enhancing the whole tennis experience
With AI commentary, virtual reality line judges and keeping online trolls off players’ feeds, tennis is truly embracing technology, while keeping the spirit of the sport alive.
The news that tennis is to get AI commentators at Wimbledon this year is… no great surprise. We’re going to see a lot of artificial intelligence experimentation over the next 12 months as both sport and spectators establish how to embrace or reject the march of the machines.
How will it work? Having been trained in the “unique language of tennis”, IBM’s Watsonx will be tracking data from the ball, from players and analysing shots to generate audio and text commentary on the Wimbledon app.
And tennis is the perfect partner (#SorryNotSorry) for AI. Despite its (occasionally refined) reputation the sport has always has a voracious appetite for new technology. Hawk-Eye is now used across a range of sports from snooker to Aussie Rules, but has been a mainstay in tennis for 20 years. It took over the role of chalk dust (copyright Mr J McEnroe) as the final arbiter of whether a ball was in or not. And if anything, unlike VAR in football, Hawk-Eye has added to the spectacle of professional tennis. It’s difficult to image a game without a virtual reality AI replay request.
Side story.
At the cinch Championships this year, one of the highlight moments was a line judge’s astute call on a ball which was out by millimetres. And when Hawk-Eye confirmed her decision of that exceptionally close out, the crowd cheered, the umpire gave her a virtual fist-bump and she became internet-famous for the week. Fascinating that everyone will now accept technology’s decision over human, but celebrate a correct human call.
The AI commentary for Wimbledon will allow access to both aduio and text commentary. According to IBM. “Fans can add AI-generated spoken commentary to Wimbledon highlight reels, hearing play-by-play narration for the start and end of each reel, along with key points. Fans can also turn on closed captions to further enhance accessibility, a key consideration for All-England Lawn Tennis Club.”
There are those who might argue that some commentators (not necessarily from tennis) would be little missed if replaced by robots. And some who sound robotic at the best of times.
AI has also been assisting the well-being of tennis players. In a sport where your mental state plays such an important part of the game, social media’s intrusion is not always, well, not often, going to be welcome.
Players at the French Open they were able to filter their feeds thanks to an app provided by tournament organisers.
Bodyguard.ai is more than just a way of blocking unwanted words or phrases. It can consider who the post is aimed out and the meaning behind any message. Matthieu Boutard, Bodyguard.ai’s co-founder, told npr.org. “AI is a lot more complex in a sense that it understands context,
“Tennis is an individual sport. So if you lose a game, that’s your fault. You’re very exposed because a lot of people are actually betting on sport and tennis specifically, which means a lot of haters going after you if you lose a point, if you lose a set or if you lose a game.”
We shall wait and see how the AI commentary works at Wimbledon, whether it adds to the experience, decreases or increases fan understanding or play or is a technological distraction. Perhaps technology’s involvement/enhancement is best summed up by Jérôme Meltz, Chief Information and Data Officer, Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) in an interview with the BBC last year. Meltz maintains AI will be a powerful tool to help us enjoy sport — but that’s all it ever will be. He said: “Human and emotional factors remain a priority and the main element that fuels the drama.”
The debate over AI and its future is at the heart of the Generative AI for the Creative Industries’ Summit which takes place in London, September 12–13. There’s a more than impressive line-up of speakers and topics being covered, including industry experts from Amazon, the BBC, Adidas and Meta.
You’ll find ticket details here
The rumour that the cinch Championship line judge is one of the surprise guest speakers? That’s still under review…
