Peacock to use AI voice of Al Michaels for Olympic recaps

Peacock has announced “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” a new service using artificial intelligence to offer personalized highlight reels for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. This feature will provide subscribers with customized daily recaps narrated by an AI-generated voice of sports announcer Al Michaels.

Using generative AI and voice synthesis technology, Peacock will create daily 10-minute highlight compilations tailored to individual user preferences. These recaps will feature clips from NBCU’s coverage of the Games, narrated by an AI re-creation of Michaels’ voice, trained on his past broadcasts.

Subscribers can access this feature on July 27 by visiting Peacock’s Olympic hub and selecting their favorite sports and topics, such as top competitions, behind-the-scenes stories, trending moments, and international team highlights.

The AI technology will generate a personalized playlist summarizing the most relevant events from the previous day and previewing upcoming highlights in NBC’s primetime show. Each user can receive a recap tailored to their interests, with the service accommodating up to six profiles per account.

“Peacock continues to introduce unique customer-first features that strengthen our leadership in live streaming,” said Kelly Campbell, President of Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer, NBCUniversal. “With these recaps, alongside interactive elements like Peacock Live Actions and Discovery Multiview, we’re combining sports and technology to deliver a personalized Olympics experience.”

Al Michaels expressed initial skepticism about the project. “When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but curious,” said Michaels. “Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, ‘I’m in.'”

The AI-generated voice of Michaels aims to provide a familiar auditory experience for viewers, enhancing the personalized nature of the recaps. NBCU editors will review all content for quality assurance before the recaps are made available to users.

Peacock anticipates nearly 7 million personalized variants of “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock” could be streamed across the U.S. during the Games. These recaps will be accessible on supported web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Safari, as well as on the Peacock app for iOS and iPadOS devices.

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