NBC has announced that for its upcoming “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” feature, it will be utilizing an AI-generated recreation of the voice of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels. Beginning July 27, NBC says the new feature will provide fans with a customized playlist to fans, with the generated voice recapping the previous day’s events that are most relevant to the viewer.
Michaels, now 79, has had a prolific career spanning decades, including his historic calling of the “Miracle on Ice” during the 1980 Winter Olympics, but was dropped from his NFL broadcasting duties by NBC in 2023. The generative AI model that recreates his voice was reportedly trained on countless hours of footage featuring Michaels’ calls.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” said Michaels. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
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Michaels spoke with Vanity Fair about his upcoming AI doppelganger.
“Frankly, it was astonishing. It was amazing, and it was a little bit frightening,” he told the publication, speaking to the subtlety of the AI’s delivery. “It was not only close, it was almost 2% off perfect. I’m thinking, ‘Whoa.’”
