NBC's Olympic announcement about great NFL announcer Al Michaels is as disappointing as it is absurd
I genuinely don't want to come off as an old man yelling at the clouds – at 24 years old that would feel weird – but NBC is leaving me no choice with its latest announcement leading up to the 2024 Olympics involving long-time NFL and Olympic Games announcer Al Michaels. On Wednesday, the network announced […]
I genuinely don't want to come off as an old man yelling at the clouds – at 24 years old that would feel weird – but NBC is leaving me no choice with its latest announcement leading up to the 2024 Olympics involving long-time NFL and Olympic Games announcer Al Michaels.
On Wednesday, the network announced it would include “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock," which will 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."
For context, NBC's goal behind this product is to "provide fans with their own customized playlist featuring highlights of the events most relevant to them from the previous day."
Listen, I get it. I don't mean to push back against the rise of A.I. because I'll be the first to admit I don't even know enough about it in the first place. And I totally understand how a customized experience can maintain sports fans engaged with the Olympics. I love track and field and won't want to miss any combat sports action that takes place in Paris this summer and now that adult life is doing its thing, I'm very likely going to want to watch those recaps to make sure I don't miss anything.
Not only that but I'm more likely to watch a customized version of an Olympics recap so I don't have to sit through the countless disciplines and sports that simply don't interest me.
Additionally, I absolutely love Al Michaels. As a former kid that grew up memorizing sports calls – Do you believe in miracles? included – Michaels is a living legend in my eyes.
But come on, now. I understand the A.I. revolution is just getting started but isn't sportscasting one of the very few professions where you irrefutably need an actual human injecting the emotion of the moment? And sure, I've heard some of the A.I. voice apps coming out that are conversational and sometimes you can mistake them for actual humans if they play you the recordings but, um… Have you heard the recording NBC is distributing as a teaser? That does not sound like Al, y'all.
I don't know who gave the thumbs up over at NBC but I question if they've heard Al Michaels in the first place. What I do know is that's not him. To even use Al's image this way is disappointing from NBC.
It might closely resemble the version of Michaels that has called NFL games over the last couple of years (he's lost a step or two, understandably) but if you take a couple of minutes to watch this highlight reel of Michaels' top career calls you'll understand it's not the same, even if it's impressive (scary?) to hear his voice knowing it's A.I.
Not only that but this is the Olympics! The sports event of the world. Wouldn't it be much better to put a rising sportscaster on the job instead? I don't blame Michaels, at 79 years old, likely not wanting to call the Olympics again.
But then why not take a chance on someone else? Someone who can create something new or show us a new voice in sports? Or an already renowned voice who is actually there?
"When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” said Al Michaels via NBC's statement. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in."
I wish he hadn't been in on it, to be honest.
But hey, maybe at almost 25 years old, out of college for a couple of years and getting used to being an adult worrying more about bills and savings and struggling to believe the last NCAA Football came out over a decade ago (soon it'll come back, though!), I'm becoming less welcoming of new technologies.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe NBC simply screwed up its way to incorporate A.I. into its Olympics coverage. Investors will sure be excited about hearing the words artificial intelligence in their next earnings call, though.
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