Annabelle Croft: AI comments at Wimbledon are harsh, insensitive and will kill humanity

Former player Annabelle Croft (left) comments on the BBC at Wimbledon. Photo: Pennsylvania/John Walton

Wimbledon's use of artificial intelligence commentators was criticized by Annabelle Croft as an «insult».

At this year's tournament, IBM first tried AI to create highlights on the official app and website Wimbledon at outdoor venues where there is no human commentator. present.

Wimbledon also does not rule out replacing human referees with artificial intelligence versions.

Croft, a BBC presenter and former professional tennis player, reacted vehemently, criticizing the quality of the commentary. and said she feared for the future of her profession.

«It's a race against a robot for your job,» she said on BBC Radio Four's Today programme.

“Listening to it was very tough, no emotions, no feelings at all. Whoever decides to put the robot in the comments and of course in the wider context of all professions in life: it will kill humanity.

“The robot has no feelings, but it will probably be built next. Where are we going in life? This is terrible.

«I feel like we all need to throw our phones in the river and stop AI from taking over our brains.

«I really hope someone can stop it.”

The AI ​​program is designed to use crowd noise and other factors to determine the most exciting moments of the game, combining them with shot data to create descriptive sentences.

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Another BBC commentator Andrew Kotter also criticized the AI ​​version, stating, that she lacks the emotions needed for the most important moments.

“I don’t think that sometime in the future in our lives, you will have something that sounds human — just the same like the real deal,” he said. «But it doesn't matter because it's artificial and the sport is based on emotion.»

IBM defended the initiative, saying that the AI ​​comments «complete a lot of the human element.»

«For Wimbledon, it's about commentating in the future on matches that are not currently commentated by people, such as seniors, juniors, wheelchair [events],» said Kevin Farrar, head of IBM Sports Partnerships.< /p> >What do you think of the AI ​​comments at Wimbledon? Join the discussion in the comments section below