AI Becomes the Biggest Highlight of the Summer of 2024
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris, France from July 26th to August 11th local time. This is the third time that Paris has hosted the Summer Olympics after 1900 and 1924. The opening ceremony of this Olympic Games will be held on the Seine River, which is an unprecedented attempt aimed at breaking the traditional model of Olympic opening ceremonies.
However, what is unprecedented is not only the traditional model of the Olympics but also the "embarrassing incidents" of Paris before the Olympics. During the preparation period, there were strikes, demonstrations, and even situations of throwing feces into the Seine River. After the venues were built, there was no air conditioning provided and athletes were given hard baguettes and other such behaviors, which almost made the whole world watch a "joke".
Many people may therefore have less anticipation for the Paris Olympics. But if the Olympics are ultimately presented perfectly to the global audience, then all the previous "embarrassing incidents" are just like a little wind and frost. And the AI and black technologies at the Paris Olympics may be one of the few chances to achieve this goal.
AI Network Bodyguards for Athletes
The Olympics is not only a sports event but also a competition for athletes, and the discussions among the audience also focus on the athletes. Once it involves people, disputes will arise.
The power of public opinion is terrifying. According to the international organization SafeSport International, online personal violent threats, abuse, and harassment can seriously affect the physical, emotional, and mental health of athletes. At the Tokyo Olympics, Chinese athletes such as Wang Luyao, Yang Qian, Wang Mengjie, and Chen Yuxi all suffered varying degrees of cyber violence due to their competition performances and personal life details.
The upcoming Paris Olympics will last for 17 days, and it is expected that more than 10.5 million athletes will participate in 32 events. The International Olympic Committee predicts that there will be more than 500 million social media posts during this Olympic Games.
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, stated that if someone wanted to spend one second reading one social content, it would take him 16 years to finish. Coinciding with the rapid development of AI technology in the past two years, therefore, the International Olympic Committee decided not to rely on human power. They developed an active AI protection tool specifically used to monitor and delete those abusive posts to ensure a clean and refreshing online space for athletes.
This AI protection tool can cover all social interactions of 15,000 athletes and officials. Just like an all-weather bodyguard, it keeps an eye on the online situation at all times. Once it detects unfriendly content, it immediately "acts" to delete it without mercy. Let our athletes be able to compete with full concentration and not be affected by those rumors and slurs to influence their performance.
In addition to the AI tool to prevent cyber violence, there is also an AI assistant specifically tailored for nearly 11,000 athletes worldwide - AthleteGPT. This intelligent application, innovatively launched by Intel in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee, is seamlessly integrated into the Athlete365 platform, transcending language and cultural boundaries and escorting every Olympic athlete.
AthleteGPT, as the crystallization of Intel's cutting-edge technology, relies on the powerful Xeon processor and the efficient Gaudi accelerator to build an outstanding RAG (Real-time Analysis and Generation) solution. It not only has excellent interaction capabilities and can respond immediately to the daily inquiries of athletes, but also transforms into a personal guide from the moment athletes step into the Paris Olympic Village, pushing customized information as needed, ranging from travel guidance to event rules.
Black Technology Arenas with the French Romantic Background
Some venues of the Paris Olympics incorporate high-tech elements. The track and field arena adopts a purple track for the first time. The project leader stated that this design is inspired by the lavender in Provence. The contrast in color between the track and the spectator stands helps the audience watch the competition more clearly. At the same time, the materials and underlying design of the track can "feedback energy to the athletes".
In indoor venues, we will see LED floor screens from China. This kind of floor can not only adjust the marking layout and floor color according to the on-site situation but also display game data, shot replays, and celebration animations in real time.
This technology has previously made an appearance in the NBA 2024 All-Star Weekend basketball game. Every score and wonderful dribbling move interacts with the light and shadow on the floor, turning the arena into a dazzling light show.
The venue continues the color scheme of this event from the Tokyo Olympics.Recyclable rubber materials are used in terms of materials, which have the advantages of low carbon, green, recyclable, and environmentally friendly, meeting the requirements of the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee for "high standards of carbon reduction, environmental protection, and recyclability in venue construction".
Additionally, the sports mats used in the judo and wrestling events of this Olympic Games are also provided by Chinese enterprises. It is worth mentioning that these sports mats are embedded with smart chips, which are less than 10 millimeters in length and can collect data such as the strength, speed, and position of athletes in real-time without perception, thereby providing guidance for athletes' training.
AI Shines in the Paris Olympics, Creating a New Spectating Experience
China Media Group (CMG) will utilize AI technology to enhance the presentation effect of the 2024 Paris Olympics coverage. The CMG Media Cloud is empowered with language-related capabilities such as intelligent transcription, intelligent lyrics, intelligent translation, and intelligent dubbing. AI-assisted shooting provides a brand-new event perspective for the production of public signals, flexibly captures wonderful moments of the event, clearly records the elegant postures of athletes, and enhances the spectating experience of the audience from multiple angles.
NBC in the United States utilizes advanced artificial intelligence voice technology to bring an unprecedented event broadcasting experience to the audience. Compared to the cumbersome rehearsal and recording processes of traditional sports hosts, AI sports clone hosts, relying on preset precise programs and intelligent algorithms, can quickly generate smooth and natural hosting content and flexibly adjust to adapt to the rapidly changing event process.
In terms of event commentary, the Paris Olympics launched the first large-scale model application, which is technologically supported by Alibaba Tongyi Qianwen and is open for use by official commentators of the International Olympic Committee to assist in the commentary work of various events. With precise voice recognition and natural language processing capabilities, AI commentary can capture every subtle movement change in the game in real-time and describe the wonderful event scenes for the audience with accurate and vivid language, making the audience feel as if they are on the spot.
In terms of spectating, Alibaba also has 360-degree live streaming technology. With the help of advanced AI algorithms, the audience is not limited to the traditional fixed viewing angle and can freely choose the viewing angle. Whether it is the moment of an athlete's sprint or a wonderful team collaboration, the audience can watch from the angle they like and want, not missing any wonderful moment.
Meanwhile, in this year's Paris Olympics, "Bullet Time" will be applied in 14 venues of the Paris Olympics and adopted in the event broadcasts such as rugby sevens, badminton, track and field, basketball, beach volleyball, table tennis, wrestling, tennis, judo, breaking, BMX freestyle, and skateboarding.
Paris has encountered frequent problems in preparing for the Olympics but has given major enterprises the opportunity to showcase their strength, especially enterprises from China, including Chinese AI technology, Made in China, and even mascot dolls from Yiwu. The upcoming Paris Olympics will be the first major event in the AI era. We will not only be able to see the competitive performances of Olympic athletes but also witness the grand appearance of Chinese enterprises.
The integration of artificial intelligence into the Olympics is an important milestone, demonstrating the potential of technology to change the way we experience sports. The artificial intelligence technology at the 2024 Paris Olympics has also set a precedent for future sports events.
