A.I. Al Michaels? NBC Will Use Legendary Broadcaster’s A.I.-Generated Voice For Paris Olympics

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NBC will use an A.I. generated voice of Al Michaels for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

NBC Universal will use an A.I.-generated version of longtime sports play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels in its summer Olympics coverage in Paris, the media conglomerate announced Wednesday, bringing artificial intelligence to the games—with the help of a 79-year-old known for years as one of the biggest voices of the Olympics.

KEY FACTS

Michaels himself will not appear at the Paris Olympics, though fans will be able to hear an artificially-generated version of Michael’s voice through NBC’s Peacock app.

NBC will use Michaels’ artificially generated voice in its highlight reel, which the outlet calls “Your Daily Olympic Recap,” a feature of its app where viewers can enter their names and favorite Olympic sports for personalized coverage.

The content will also be reviewed by NBC editors “for quality assurance and accuracy” before those highlights are made available.

Michaels said in an NBC statement he was “skeptical but obviously curious” when the artificial intelligence idea was first raised, but said “I’m in” once he heard a demonstration.

KEY BACKGROUND

While Michaels has taken a step back from NBC’s lineup in recent years, including from the broadcasting booth of NBC’s popular Sunday Night Football coverage, Michaels is still employed by NBCUniversal, now in an emeritus role. Michaels has also been part of NBC’s Olympics coverage since 2010, and covered the games for ABC before that. One of his most famous calls came in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, when the U.S. Men’s Hockey team came back over the Soviet Union in the so-called Miracle on Ice, calling the Americans’ win by saying, “Do you believe in miracles?” He also served as NBC’s Olympics daytime host for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, and covered the games in 2012, 2014 and 2016. More recently, Michaels has served as play-by-play announcer for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts.

SURPRISING FACT

Michaels will not be covering Olympic events in-person from Paris. NBCUniversal released its lineup of commentators on Tuesday, including Mike Tirico, Rebecca Lowe, Craig Melvin, Ahmed Fareed and Damon Hack as primary hosts, with commentary from former Olympians, including former NBA Champion Dwayne Wade, three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Traenor and 28-time medalist Michael Phelps.

BIG NUMBER

$7.65 billion. That’s how much NBC forked over in 2014 to renew its contract with the International Olympic Committee for media rights to the games through 2032.

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