Artificial Intelligence and Sports

About This Episode

How will artificial intelligence change sports? Has it changed sports already? On this episode of StarTalk Sports Edition, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice investigate the rise of AI in sports. 

To kick things off, Noah Syken, Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships at IBM, joins the show to take us inside the lab at IBM. You’ll learn about IBM’s long history in sports. We discuss their current projects partnering with Wimbledon and the US Open. You’ll hear how IBM is taking classic tennis matches and updating them to current broadcast standards using artificial intelligence. Find out how IBM is re-creating soundscapes for the US Open.

We explore how AI uses language to study sport. Discover more about structured data vs. unstructured data. Noah tells us how IBM is using AI to learn the “fandom” of sports. We discuss the next generation of sign-stealing. 

Then, Rajiv Maheswaran, CEO of Second Spectrum, drops by to share what they’ve been working on. Second Spectrum is “the Official Tracking Provider for the NBA, Premier League, and MLS, and provides an unparalleled machine understanding of every game.” You’ll learn how Second Spectrum “creates words out of numbers.” Rajiv tells us how they use machines to watch the games, understand the games, and then create augmented content. 

We talk about the importance of John Madden and how he brought deep statistics, data, and analysis to mainstream broadcasting. Rajiv explains why there’s a competitive market for people’s attention. We ponder the future of broadcasting: will it be linear, digital, or something else? Lastly, you’ll hear how gambling was the first way fans personalized their sports viewing experience. 

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons and All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

About the prints that flank Neil in this video:

“Black Swan” & “White Swan” limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.