An AI-generated voice of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels will be featured in Peacock’s daily recaps of the Paris Olympics, NBC announced in a statement Wednesday.
“Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” available to subscribers of the streaming service Peacock, will offer a curated selection of content from NBC’s Olympics coverage, tailored to viewers’ preferences.
Peacock will provide comprehensive coverage of the Olympics, including all sports, 329 medal events and over 5,000 hours of content, according to The Athletic.
The recap compilations will highlight events narrated by the artificial intelligence version of Michaels, who even greets users by name. His AI voice was developed using his numerous past NBC broadcasts.
Peacock showcased a demonstration of the recaps, which bear an uncanny resemblance to Michaels’ actual voice.
“This is the first, personalized sports highlights powered by Gen A.I., featuring a legendary voice, in this case the great Al Michaels,” Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, said, per The Athletic.
“To make this happen, we combined the latest advancements in voice synthesis and Generative A.I. with our sports expertise — and the Peacock platform to create a brand new way for our customers to experience the biggest moments from Paris.”
The AI voice is ‘2% off perfect’
Michaels’ voice, recognized worldwide, has delivered play-by-play commentary for decades.
One of his most famous calls came during the 1980 Olympics when the U.S. hockey team pulled off an unexpected win against the Soviet Union, prompting Michaels’ iconic line, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Initially, Michaels expressed skepticism about the concept when NBC approached him.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, he admitted being “very skeptical” but changed his mind after hearing the AI voice.
“Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing,” he told Vanity Fair. “And it was a little bit frightening.”
“It was not only close, it was almost 2% off perfect,” he added.
The AI voice is so accurate that not only can it mimic the sound of Michaels’ voice but also his “expertise and elocution,” according to NBC.
Ethical concerns
Ethical concerns about AI usage continue to be a contentious topic. For example, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2023 for copyright infringement.
Musicians have also raised concerns about AI replicating their voices without permission, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Michaels expressed worries about potential misinformation spread by AI voice replication.
“People are being thrown curveballs,” he told Vanity Fair. “Can this be manipulated to the point where people are getting either catfished or gaslighted?”
He also highlighted the potential job loss impact.
“It could take jobs away from people, the writers who need to work,” he said.
Despite these concerns, Michaels acknowledged the potential benefits of AI technology, particularly in the medical field.
“This is a pipe dream,” Michael said, “but if AI could someday take everything that’s ever been known and researched about cancer and somehow advance the curing of cancer — I mean, now that would be the all-time greatest thing that could happen.”