In a ground-breaking initiative, the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) right this moment launched the Olympic AI Agenda. The initiative was launched throughout an interactive occasion held at Lee Valley VeloPark at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, residence of the Olympic and Paralympic Video games London 2012.
The Olympic AI Agenda is the third in a trilogy of technique paperwork launched beneath the management of IOC President Thomas Bach. It follows Olympic Agenda 2020, launched in December 2014, and Olympic Agenda 2020+5, launched in March 2021. It units out the envisioned impression that Synthetic Intelligence (AI) can ship for sport and the way the IOC, because the chief of the Olympic Motion, intends to guide on the worldwide implementation of AI inside sport. It establishes the IOC’s ambition and guiding ideas, identifies high-impact areas for AI utility, and explores the framework and governance mechanisms wanted to mitigate threat and promote the accountable use of AI. It outlines 4 commitments that the IOC has made because it takes the primary steps in integrating AI into the Olympic ecosystem and leveraging the ability of AI in its operations, within the Olympic Video games and throughout the Olympic Motion.
Introducing the subject to a world on-line viewers and greater than 100 journalists on website, President Bach defined: “After we launched Olympic Agenda, our complete reform programme, in 2014, we did so beneath the slogan ‘change or be modified’– for a few of you right here in Nice Britain this will sound acquainted, it’s about ‘To be, or to not be? That’s the query”. Immediately we’re making one other step to make sure the individuality of the Olympic Video games and the relevance of sport, and to do that, we’ve got to be leaders of change, and never the thing of change. Immediately, with the ever-accelerating improvement of digital expertise, and particularly AI, we’re once more at such a crossroads. From our Olympic Agenda, we all know which you can solely be the chief of change if you happen to take a holistic method. Whereas we’ve got already seen some stand-alone AI initiatives in some particular areas of sport, there has not but been an general technique for AI and sport. That is why, right this moment, we’re presenting this primary holistic method: our Olympic AI Agenda.”
The IOC President continued: “On the centre of the Olympic AI Agenda are human beings. This implies: the athletes. As a result of the athletes are the center of the Olympic Motion. Not like different sectors of society, we in sport aren’t confronted with the existential query of whether or not AI will change human beings. In sport, the performances will at all times should be delivered by the athletes. The 100 metres will at all times should be run by an athlete – a human being. Subsequently, we are able to think about the potential of AI to help the athletes.
“AI may also help to establish athletes and expertise in each nook of the world. AI can present extra athletes with entry to personalised coaching strategies, superior sports activities tools and extra individualised programmes to remain match and wholesome. Past sporting efficiency, AI can revolutionise judging and refereeing, thereby strengthening equity in sport. AI can enhance safeguarding in sport. AI will make organising sporting occasions extraordinarily environment friendly, remodel sports activities broadcasting and make the spectator expertise way more individualised and immersive.
“We’re decided to harness the huge potential of AI in a accountable means: our Olympic AI Agenda units out a strong governance framework for the implementation of this technique, which has to supply equal entry for all and guarantee self-determination for any particular person.
“On this means, the IOC needs to set the course for the AI way forward for sport with accountable management by embracing change whereas preserving the Olympic values.”
Throughout a 90-minute interactive session, specialists from the fields of sport, expertise, enterprise and academia mentioned the sensible utility of AI instruments to sport and their implementation. In attendance have been:
- Thomas Bach, IOC President, Olympic champion, fencing.
- Christoph Schell, Government Vice-President and Chief Industrial Officer, Intel Company, and Lindsey Vonn, Olympic champion, snowboarding, who mentioned how AI could possibly be leveraged for expertise identification in sport.
- Michael Evans, Director and President, Alibaba, Olympic champion, rowing, Alistair Brownlee, Olympic champion, triathlon, and James Huckle, Olympian, capturing, who talked about how AI may also help athlete efficiency.
- Jesse Davis, Professor of Machine Studying Group & DTAI Sports activities Analytics Lab, KU Leuven, and Masomah Ali Zada, member of the IOC Refugee Olympic Workforce at Tokyo 2020 and Chef de Mission for the IOC Refugee Olympic Workforce at Paris 2024, who mentioned a motorbike design examine and the impression of AI on sports activities tools.
- Alain Zobrist, Chief Government Officer, Swiss Timing, and Nadia Comaneci, five-time Olympic champion, gymnastics, and recipient of the well-known “excellent 10”, in a dialogue on the potential impression of AI on refereeing and judging.
- Kirsty Burrows, Head of the IOC Protected Sport Unit, and Lindsey Vonn, Olympic champion, snowboarding, who mentioned the function AI can play to help safeguarding in sport.
- Christophe Dubi, IOC Olympic Video games Government Director, and Kevin Walsh, Managing Companion, Deloitte North and South Europe, who spoke about AI’s function in optimising the organisation of the Olympic Video games.
- Amit Joshi, Professor of AI, Analytics and Advertising Technique at IMD, Andrew Stephen, Deputy Dean for College and Analysis, Professor of Advertising, Saïd Enterprise College, College of Oxford, and Sarah Walker, Olympic silver medallist, BMX, who shared experiences and insights from the AI specialists on the IOC’s Working Group.
- Dr Jian Wang, Founder, Alibaba Cloud, who talked about enriching historic photographs.
- Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Companies (OBS), Molly Solomon, Government Producer & President, NBC Olympics Manufacturing, and Andrew Georgiou,President & Managing Director, UK & Eire and Sports activities Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery, who addressed how AI applied sciences are set to rework the broadcasting expertise at Paris 2024.
The inspiring and thought-provoking sequence of discussions among the many athletes and specialists on the panel offered an summary of the wide-ranging potential and makes use of of AI within the discipline of sport and extra extensively. The event of the Olympic AI Agenda has been supported by Worldwide Olympic Companions and Media Rights-Holders.
Selina Yuan, President of Worldwide Enterprise, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, commented: “Since we began partnering with the IOC again in 2017, we’ve been dedicated to supporting the digital transformation of the Olympic Video games with our cloud applied sciences. Now, with our confirmed monitor report of AI improvements, we hope to make the Video games much more environment friendly, partaking, sustainable and inclusive for everybody concerned, and this begins with Paris 2024.”
These sentiments have been echoed by Kevin Walsh, Managing Companion, Deloitte North and South Europe, who mentioned: “Like so many different industries, AI is disrupting the sports activities ecosystem. We partnered with the IOC to carry Deloitte’s digital consulting expertise to assist facilitate the event of the Olympic AI Agenda, which is able to assist information the IOC and the Olympic Motion right into a future the place AI enhances many sides of human potential.”
Christoph Schell, Government Vice-President and Chief Industrial Officer, Intel Company, addressing the impression of AI on sport, commented: “The impression of AI in all places will probably be transformative. On the very coronary heart of every little thing the IOC is highlighting right this moment is the reliance on compute, the necessity for modern processing – which Intel is on the forefront of. Adoption of AI goes to make sport extra inclusive, aggressive, safer and fairer. As a sports activities fan, that is extremely thrilling.”
Alain Zobrist, Chief Government Officer, Swiss Timing, commented: “AI expertise is already being built-in into OMEGA’s timekeeping methods on the Olympic and Paralympic Video games and permits us to analyse and perceive athletic performances a lot deeper than ever earlier than. We’re enthusiastic about the place the innovation can go subsequent by way of knowledge storytelling and judging help.”
Specializing in the realm of broadcasting, Molly Solomon, Government Producer and President, NBC Olympics & Paralympics Manufacturing, mentioned: “I’m a storyteller by commerce, and our mission is to proceed to innovate in an effort to inform extra compelling tales concerning the athletes and the Olympic Video games. AI can enrich our presentation by knowledge evaluation, with graphics and enhanced video, personalisation and predictive evaluation. It may additionally assist navigate the plethora of content material the Olympic Video games present, connecting followers with the occasions and athletes they love, which is able to end in deeper engagement and spending extra time on our platforms.”
The Olympic AI Agenda is the product of the deliberations of the IOC AI Working Group – a high-level panel of specialists from around the globe, together with AI pioneers, teachers, athletes and representatives of expertise corporations – arrange by the IOC in 2023 to analyze using AI in sport. The Working Group undertook a broad evaluate of AI in sport and the high-impact areas the place the IOC may encourage using AI in its function because the chief of the Olympic Motion and proprietor of the Olympic Video games. It goals to information the IOC’s efforts to maximise the alternatives and handle the dangers of the transformative energy of synthetic intelligence, to help athletes and drive the event of sport and the Olympic Video games.
The Working Group consists of the next specialists:
- Christopher G. BrintonProfessor of Electrical and Laptop Engineering, Purdue College
- Alistair BrownleeOlympic champion, triathlon, & IOC Athletes’ Fee member
- Jesse DavisProfessor, Division of Laptop Science, KU Leuven
- Randall DavisProfessor of Laptop Science and Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT)
- Lou DiLorenzoPrincipal and Director of Deloitte AI and Gen AI Incubator, Deloitte Consulting LLP
- Soumitra DuttaPeter Moores Dean and Professor of Administration, Saïd Enterprise College on the College of Oxford
- Daniel FerranteManaging Director and Lead Knowledge Scientist, Deloitte Consulting LLP
- Todd HarpleOlympics AI Innovation Program Lead, Intel
- Amit JoshiProfessor & AI Knowledgeable, IMD Enterprise College
- Patrick LuceyChief Scientist, Stats Carry out
- Nitin MittalPrincipal and World AI Chief, Deloitte LLP
- Agni OrfanoudakiAffiliate Professor of Operations Administration, Saïd Enterprise College on the College of Oxford
- Daniela RusDeputy Dean of Analysis, Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT)
- Gadi SingerVP & Director of Emergent AI Analysis, Intel Labs
- Howard van RooijenFounder, Endjin, & Microsoft Azure MVP
- Pascal VuilliomenetChallenge Supervisor, EPFL Sportech Initiative
- Sarah WalkerOlympic silver medallist, BMX, IOC Member & IOC Athletes’ Fee Vice-Chair
- Dr Jian WangFounder, Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba