This year’s Wimbledon Championships made headlines for several reasons: speculation around the Princess of Wales’ attendance, a potential (and eventual) rematch between last year’s finalists Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, and a fitting send-off for tennis-great Andy Murray – and the use of AI in the games.
It was revealed that the Championships had implemented a new AI safety feature, Threat Matrix (created by Signify AI) scours players’ social media accounts to detect and block hate speech and threats. This protects players from abuse online and provides them with a greater level of psychological safety, allowing them to concentrate on the positive aspects of competing at such a high level.
AI – from London to Paris with love
Just weeks after the end of the Wimbledon Championships, the AI feature is being used in another capital city. The 2024 Olympic Games, held in Paris France, have adopted a similar safety protocol to protect players from online hate and abuse. The platform can understand more than 35 languages and has been implemented to protect the 15,000 athletes and 2000 officers at the Games.
While a seemingly simple idea, the initiative may help alleviate a major source of stress for athletes. They should be able to share their accomplishments and experiences (and view those of their fellow competitors) online, without the fear of coming across something untoward. As quoted by The Guardian, British tennis player Harriet Dart recently spoke about how she was sure to encounter a lot of hate whether she won or lost. Online abuse has unfortunately become par for the course in the sporting world.
Sport – back to its essence
Along with Wimbledon and the Olympics, similar AI systems have been used in other sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup and the FIFA World Cup. These systems promise to usher in a new era of protection for players, almost reverting them to the pre-social media days, where athletes could compete without a barrage of negative noise constantly pinging through their phones.
Sporting events should be a celebration of athleticism, camaraderie, and (where applicable) nationalism. Employing AI for good ensures that these remain the most important aspects of these competitions. We can cheer, cry, and celebrate as the greatest athletes of our time show us what the human body and mind are capable of.
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By GlobalData
