Paris Olympics 2024, or the Olympic Video games, are underway in Paris. Greater than 10,000 athletes throughout 200 nations have assembled to compete within the oldest worldwide sporting occasion of humanity. The occasion is taken into account a grand showcase of human athleticism, endurance, and sportsmanship. Nevertheless, through the years, the occasion has additionally develop into an intersection of humanity and expertise, the place the latter has assisted in not solely making the occasion grandiose and safe but in addition allowed the athletes to push past their limits.
The confluence of expertise in such a human-centric event may look like an odd juxtaposition. Nevertheless, expertise has allowed athletes and the organisers of the occasion not solely to resolve a number of ache factors but in addition to raise the expertise for everybody concerned. Allow us to take a more in-depth take a look at how expertise is shaping this 12 months’s summer time Olympics.
Paris Olympics 2024 and the Rise of AI
Ever since OpenAI launched generative synthetic intelligence (AI) within the type of ChatGPT, many have voiced their issues over this expertise which has the potential to develop into smarter than people within the not-so-distant future. Nevertheless, the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has embraced it.
Capturing occasion at Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
“The IOC will use AI on the Olympic Video games Paris 2024, in numerous areas. A vital one is safeguarding from cyber abuse, since we anticipate about half a billion social media posts throughout these Video games. AI will even be used to create highlights movies in a number of codecs and languages throughout these Video games. We’re additionally utilizing AI to make the Olympic Video games extra sustainable, by means of a really refined first-ever information seize and vitality administration system. AI can be opening up new methods for expertise identification, and this mission can be launched by us globally in 2025 to dwell as much as the dedication we made that AI in sport should be accessible to everyone,” stated Thomas Bach, IOC President, in a press launch.
Months earlier than the Olympics in 2024, the IOC ready an AI agenda supported by firms closely invested in AI, akin to Alibaba, Deloitte, Intel, and Omega. The next are just a few methods AI is taking part in a key position within the occasions.
Defending Athletes From Abuse
Collaborating athletes can usually be topic to brutal on-line abuse due to one unhealthy efficiency. With the delight of countries on the road, faceless Web trolls can usually direct their frustrations in direction of these athletes in essentially the most insensitive and doubtlessly dangerous methods. To guard athletes from abuse, this 12 months, the IOC makes use of AI to watch lots of of hundreds of social media accounts and flag abusive messages for intervention by stated platforms.
Tennis match between Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
The outcome? The social media platforms will promptly delete all such messages earlier than the athletes can see them.
AI Chatbot to Reply Athletes’ Queries
With greater than 10,000 athletes assembling on the worldwide sporting occasion, many are anticipated to reach with a plethora of questions starting from “How do I attain my sporting venue?” to “Am I allowed to livestream my recreation?”. Normally, the athletes can be making numerous journeys to their coaches, occasion coordinators, and reception space to seek out the solutions, dropping worthwhile time that may very well be spent in coaching and resting.
Manu Bhaker wins a medal at Olympics 2024
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
However not this 12 months. Ilario Corna, Chief Know-how Officer at IOC, has revealed that the Athlete365 platform can have a brand new AI chatbot, in partnership with Intel, designed to reply all of the regularly requested questions (FAQs) the athletes might need.
AI-Powered Sustainability Drive
The IOC can be involved concerning the vitality consumption of the Olympics. To organise an occasion of this scale, the ability required to run each piece of equipment can skyrocket. Whereas a few of it’s unavoidable, there’s numerous potential for wastage and areas the place effectivity could be applied.
Novak Djokovic at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
This 12 months, the IOC is utilizing AI purposes to watch vitality consumption in Paris in actual time. AI will seize and analyse information from throughout all of the venues so the organisers can plan higher the following 12 months. For this, digital twins of the venues are being created to simulate the place the cameras can be positioned, the place the ability supply can be stored, and if any further gear must be stored.
AI in Broadcasting Enchancment
One other space the place AI will play a pivotal position is broadcasting providers. The expertise will enhance inside workflows, enhance the viewer expertise, and create drama and pleasure within the storytelling of various sports activities occasions.
Fencing at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
“This contains collaborating with Worldwide Olympic Accomplice Alibaba to offer a file variety of multi-camera replay programs with AI-powered, high-quality reconstruction within the cloud to create three-dimensional fashions and map further viewpoints throughout 21 sports activities and disciplines. It will ship extra compelling replays from extra digital camera angles,” stated Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Companies (OBS).
One fascinating use case of this can be utilizing clever stroboscopic evaluation. Throughout numerous athletics and gymnastic occasions, this AI-powered expertise will assist the viewers perceive the biomechanics and complicated actions of the athletes. AI will even be utilized in motion-tracking expertise and to generate information graphs.
AI in Efficiency Monitoring and Coaching
When AI can help in producing data-rich evaluation through the occasion, it might have been a waste if the identical expertise had not been utilized by coaches to enhance the athletes and determine expertise. Intel’s AI-powered 3D Athlete Monitoring (3DAT) system was first used through the Toyko Olympics 2020, and it’ll once more be used this 12 months to assist athletes perceive their movement higher and achieve perception in real-time.
Swimming at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
The system tracks 21 factors throughout the human physique for exact bodily actions. The insights then assist athletes and coaches in bettering actions to maximise effectivity.
Now, allow us to take a look at how expertise past AI is shaping the Paris Olympics 2024.
The Starter Pistol
When you’ve got watched any racing occasion within the Olympics, you will need to have seen that originally, an official holds a handgun and shoots it to point that athletes can now begin operating. Nevertheless, these pistols don’t carry any ammunition and are at all times clean. However here is the fascinating half. They don’t even make a man-made sound.
Racing occasion at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
The logic behind that’s if the Starter Pistol is the supply of the beginning sound, then the athlete closest to the gun will hear it first and the farthest will hear it final. Whereas the distinction is perhaps in milliseconds, it nonetheless is an unfair benefit to some and a drawback to others when races are sometimes selected the tiniest margins. To unravel this, these pistols are actually linked to audio system positioned behind the runners. When the official fires the gun, the sound comes from the audio system, making the whole course of fairer.
VAR System
VAR, or Video Assistant Referee, is a technology-aided officiating system that has been a part of the soccer world for fairly a while now. The Olympics additionally integrates into the soccer occasion. The on-ground referee is assisted by an official watching the sport on a monitor.
Canoe occasion at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
Every time the referee requires it, the official can use all of the expertise at his disposal to rewatch the incident from numerous angles and at totally different speeds to offer the ultimate verdict.
Drones
Whereas many people recognise drones on the Olympics from the sunshine exhibits through the opening ceremony, these gadgets play an even bigger position through the occasion. Drones are utilized by the organisers for the safety and surveillance of each athletes and viewers. The drones can monitor massive crowds, determine potential safety threats, and even help in crowd management.
Rhythmic Gymnastics at Paris Olympics
Photograph Credit score: Olympics
Drones are additionally important in broadcasting to seize distinctive views with aerial pictures of athlete efficiency, the stadiums, and the encompassing panorama. Throughout sporting occasions akin to highway biking, marathons, and canoeing, these gadgets present invaluable footage following the contributors by means of totally different terrains.
Whereas these have been among the main expertise integrations within the Paris Olympics 2024, the record is for much longer. There are bibs with sensors, cameras able to monitoring picture end, hi-tech underwater monitoring programs for diving and swimming occasions, and rather more. It’s fascinating how the occasion, considered an excellence of human calibre, is being remodeled by the capabilities of expertise.
