Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making its mark on the sports sector in countless ways, from marketing and fan engagement, to media and content creation. Various companies are looking to take advantage of sports’ increased interest in AI.
A group of stakeholders which arguably has some of the most to benefit from AI is broadcasters, due to the extent of their operations and particularly due to the abovementioned possibilities for AI-backed content creation.
The latest to do so is Eurovision Sport, which is using AI language solutions for dubbing live sports commentary from French to Portuguese. The broadcaster has enlisted CAMB.AI, a AI speech transcription firm, to do so.
Eurovision Sport has identified a number of benefits to using AI for this purpose. The firm states that it will provide its viewers with real-time, accurate and engaging commentary in Portuguese, to enhance the viewing experience.
Jean-Baptiste Casta, Director of Business Operations and EurovisionSport.com, said: “We are proud to be at the forefront of technological advancements – working with CAMB.AI to pioneer the use of AI to provide live sports commentary in Europe.
“Recent trials at the European Aquatics Championships in June and the European Athletics in July have demonstrated the audiences’ huge appetite for commentary in their own languages and we are excited to be working again with CAMB.AI on the World Athletics U20 Championships this week.”
AI has become a huge talking point across countless sector over the past couple of years. The technology is being adopted in everything from sports to finance, with the latter also eyeing up investment opportunities.
In sports, the tech is making an impact on areas like scouting, with companies like ai.io playing a prominent role. This firm has partnered with US Major League Soccer (MLS), for example, and explained in an interview with Insider Sport earlier this year that it has caught the attention of FIFA.
Eurovision Sport will test out the technology at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, to be held in Lima, Peru, between 27-31 August. Depending how the pilot turns out, viewers could potentially expect to see the tech used for more high-profile sporting events in the future.
Akshat Prakash, Chief Technology Officer at CAMB.AI, added: “We are thrilled to partner with Eurovision Sport to bring cutting-edge technology to life at the 2024 World Athletics U20.
“Our AI-powered translation and dubbing capabilities make sporting events truly global, allowing fans from different linguistic backgrounds to share in the excitement and passion of their favourite competitions in real-time.”
