NBC announced they will be using an A.I. version of Al Michaels' voice to deliver daily recaps of the 2024 Paris Olympics...and the masses are a bit disturbed.
On Wednesday, the broadcast company revealed it will recreate Michaels' voice "powered by generative A.I. and A.I. voice synthesis technology" for subscribers' personalized daily recaps of the Summer Olympic Games to stream on Peacock.
The new feature, currently named “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock," will provide streamers with 10-minute highlight packages personalized by the viewer to include anything from behind-the-scenes and backstories to top competition, viral and trending moments, and spotlights on international teams.
Per NBC:
"Each compilation will feature clips from NBCU’s Olympics coverage and be narrated by a high-quality A.I. re-creation of Michaels’ voice, which was trained using his past appearances on NBC and matches his signature expertise and elocution."
Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal said:
"With these recaps alongside interactive elements like Peacock Live Actions and Discovery Multiview, we’re bringing the best of sports together with the best of technology to deliver fans a personalized Olympics experience in a way that’s never been possible before."
Michaels himself told Vanity Fair he was "skeptical" of the whole concept...that is, until he listened to the A.I.-generated voice.
"Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing."
"And it was a little bit frightening."
"It was not only close, it was almost 2% off perfect."
"I’m thinking, whoa."
Michaels echoed those same thoughts during a press release.
"When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious."
"Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, 'I'm in.'"
People on social media, however, haven't quite gotten past the "frightening" stage of the new feature.
Michaels has worked a total of nine Olympic Games for both ABC Sports and NBC Sports. He joined NBC Sports in 2006 and was the voice of Sunday Night Football until 2021.
He is currently the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.
And, yes, he is being compensated for the use of his voice.
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