Al Michael’s voice is a familiar one when it comes to the Olympics, and it will be present at this summer’s Games but in a different way.
NBC announced Wednesday they will use Michael’s voice during the Games, but it will be one powered by artificial intelligence.
“Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” will feature narration from a “high-quality A.I. re-creation” of Michaels’ voice, according to NBC. It will be available for those who subscribe to the Peacock streaming platform.
Michaels, 79, told Vanity Fair that he was initially “very skeptical” of the proposal from NBCUniversal executives — until he heard the AI-generated version of his speaking voice, which is capable of greeting viewers by name.
“Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing,” he told the magazine in a phone interview last weekend. “And it was a little bit frightening.”
While skeptical, Michaels decided to go along with the project.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels said in a press release. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
An NBC spokesperson told CNN Michaels is being compensated for his involvement.
Michaels, who is a long-time broadcaster, has worked on Olympics broadcasts for ABC, since the 1972 Games. He is currently the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.
NBC said the AI system was trained using prior NBC broadcast audio from Michaels. A team of NBC Sports editors will review all of the content, including audio and clips, to make sure everything is factually accurate and names are pronounced correctly, CNN reported.
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