Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
- NBC will use an AI version of Al Michaels to cover the Paris Olympics this summer.
- Michaels was skeptical at first but agreed to the proposal once he heard his AI voice, reports say.
- The AI recaps will be available on Peacock and contain customized event highlights.
The Summer Olympics in Paris will feature an element of artificial intelligence.
NBC, the network carrying the Summer Olympics next month, is home to several sportscasting legends who grace American televisions every few years for the Olympic games.
This year, NBC is creating an AI version of Al Michaels, one of those acclaimed reporters.
"Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing," Michaels, 79, told Vanity Fair. "And it was a little bit frightening."
The AI version of Michaels will create the daily recaps available on Peacock, NBC's streaming service. Michaels told Vanity Fair that he was initially "very skeptical" about the idea when NBC's top brass approached him about it, but he was convinced once he heard his artificial voice.
"It was not only close, it was almost 2% off perfect," Michaels told Vanity Fair. "It sounded like what I might say in certain situations."
The news comes amid ongoing concerns in the media industry about artificial intelligence replacing jobs. Hollywood writers went on strike for almost 150 days in 2023 in part to gain protection from AI taking their work. An NBC spokesperson told CNN that Michaels was being compensated for the use of his voice to train the AI.
Some did not have enthusiastic responses. Filmmaker and actor Justine Bateman shared a screenshot of the news about Michaels and tagged NBC Sports in a post on X, writing, "This is gross." Among those who went on strike in Hollywood, Bateman previously told The Hollywood Reporter that including AI in the arts is "absolutely the wrong direction" to go in.
Others on X pointed out that Michaels is "still very much alive," questioning the need for an AI version of him.
NBC said in a press release that the AI would "provide fans with their own customized playlist featuring highlights of the events most relevant to them from the previous day."
"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," NBC said.
The personalized clips will have about 10 minutes of content, and the recaps will be reviewed by NBCU editors "for quality assurance and accuracy before recaps are made available to users."
Opening ceremonies for the Paris Olympics begin July 26.