NBC Will Debut an A.I. Al Michaels for the Paris Olympics

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I'm sure Al Michaels thinks it's great cos they're probably paying him a lot of money to use his voice. The first couple of these will be the talent getting most of what they'd get anyway, to soften the ground, before eventually they pay next to (or actually) nothing in the future

230

u/wooyouknowit 5d ago

And forget about new actors getting any work when they could just put some AI character actor that we all vaguely know in every little role

105

u/gatsby712 5d ago edited 5d ago

Get Johnny Carson back on the tonight show and just have AI write his jokes based off of current events.

I am also ready to see Tom Hanks be cast into every movie with a captain that loses his plane, ship, etc

65

u/davisyoung 5d ago

“Looks like those clowns in Congress did it again. What a bunch of clowns.”

32

u/BombTheDodongos 5d ago

How does it keep up with the news like that?

12

u/tayroc122 5d ago

Don't praise the machine

6

u/RobertEdwinHouse38 5d ago

That leads to AI Ed McMahon. Then AI Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, then AI Magazine subscriptions, then AI Columbia House CD and VHS clubs. Where will it end?

AI Napster vs AI Metallica

6

u/Captain-Cadabra 5d ago

AI ED is just a button on the desk that makes the poorly animated robot say, “HIYOOO!”

3

u/labretirementhome 5d ago

cries in Robot Geoff

1

u/ThePhantomPansy 5d ago

Careful, Icarus.

3

u/ZachMN 5d ago

Will probably evolve into ED-209.

1

u/Lauuson 5d ago

We've already had AI Ed McMahon the whole time.

1

u/trainbrain27 4d ago

Do not travel with that guy!

He even got trapped on an island during the pandemic!

-4

u/RunninADorito 5d ago

That's, like, not a thing. It's already settled law that you can't use someone's likeness for free. Back to the Future settled that one.

2

u/xSilverMC 5d ago

Give it two years and there'll be another SAG AFTRA strike because some jackass studio exec tried putting "you forfeit the rights to your voice and we can use an AI of it for free forever" in a contract again

55

u/RoboTronPrime 5d ago

It's true that Al Michaels will be fine. But young up-and-coming talent won't be.

9

u/Dr-McLuvin 5d ago

Al Michaels III is screwed.

5

u/gatsby712 5d ago

Joe Buck IV.

2

u/AvailableName9999 5d ago

Won't someone think of the nepobabies?!

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u/draxlaugh 5d ago

They also probably have thousands of hours of material to work from, I mean the man has been working steadily for decades.

14

u/ToffeeFever 5d ago edited 5d ago

He's been a longtime face of US Olympic coverage ever since he covered ice hockey for NBC at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics in Japan, infamous for NBC forgetting to bid separately for broadcast booths in-venue that they had to call taped highlights of events off television monitors in the studio set.

https://youtu.be/eSGfKfWXwI8?si=GzzLkNlDufhQ7DO7&t=1135

7

u/imtourist 5d ago

I had to do a Wiki check to see if Michaels had died. I guess just collecting money for not doing anything is nice however longer term NBC would rather just get rid of him, so he is kind of digging his own grave.

10

u/FantasticJacket7 5d ago

Dudes 79 years old....

5

u/Special-Garlic1203 5d ago

Someone already basically ripped it Scarlett Johansson's voice after she told them no, she wasnt interested. If they can't see where this is "going" when it's already here..... idk how to help people be less stupid.

2

u/jambonejiggawat 5d ago

I believe this is what Cory Doctorow calls the “Teddy Bear Effect.”

1

u/ajtreee 2d ago

If you have it forever, why have anyone else do it? or until they feel like it.

In the future all sports announcers are Ai Michaels!

173

u/brickyardjimmy 5d ago

Wait. AI Michaels? Which is indistinguishable from Al Michaels.

134

u/doomeded47 5d ago

This is the exact reason I hate sans serif fonts.

20

u/PigSlam 5d ago

This is the example we’ve been waiting for.

3

u/xSilverMC 5d ago

There are sans serif fonts that don't have this issue, it's just these corporate-professional typefaces that don't give a flying fuck about the actual readability and accessibility of the ls and Is

1

u/TurbulentCustomer 5d ago

I thought sans serif fonts were sans… serif. I don’t think there’s a sans serif font that has serifs on the capital i. Or is it just more legible in some other way?

1

u/mulletarian 5d ago

The lowercase L can be given a little bend at the base to differentiate it

1

u/TurbulentCustomer 5d ago

Ah yes, quite right, that little tail bend, thanks!

3

u/Volvulus 5d ago

Short for Aibert or Aiexander?

91

u/amurica1138 5d ago

At least he's still alive.

I dread the day they trot out an AI Vin Scully or Harry Carey Jr.

37

u/colemaker360 5d ago

Next they'll be bringing back Dick Clark for New Year's Rockin' Eve.

26

u/gatsby712 5d ago

Ryan Seacrest will be out of work. Replaced by the man he replaced.

17

u/MonolithicBaby 5d ago

Now there’s a Twilight Zone episode. Oh wait no this is real :(

3

u/diymatt 5d ago

I thought Ryan already WAS a robot.

2

u/jetsetmike 5d ago

Ah yes, the Conan O’Brien special

2

u/gatsby712 5d ago

Don’t threaten me with AI Jay Leno.

6

u/mrsunsfan 5d ago

We’re only a short time away from heads in jars

2

u/pspahn 5d ago

If it was done well, I would pay to have Bill King commentate everything.

186

u/keninsd 5d ago

As if I needed any other reason to avoid that shitshow!

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

5

u/IAmThePonch 5d ago

“Listen Johnny, don’t think of the consequences. It might hurt your bottom line!”

2

u/MoonOut_StarsInvite 5d ago

I am so tired of seeing AI in the headlines everywhere we look, no one asked for this, and everyone is acting like it’s inevitable. What the fuck capitalism bullshit is this

1

u/Master-Commander93 5d ago

AI is inherently good for mankind. The problem is that the people who control it are only in the business of making money and not actually improving the lives of the common man.

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u/pbfoot3 5d ago

Fuck this.

Also, and I can’t say this enough, FUCK this.

16

u/StevenIsFat 5d ago

Yo fuck this

4

u/Captain-Cadabra 5d ago

Have you considered a rap career? You clearly understand the phrasing.

60

u/SatiricLoki 5d ago

Another reason to not watch!

20

u/Daimakku1 5d ago

What are the other reasons? I'm out of the loop.

38

u/CynicClinic1 5d ago

NBC coverage is notoriously shit. Example

7

u/Exzj 5d ago

that's hilarious. do you think she heard that from her friend and was like, "yeah, that's definitely true and i won't even need to google it!" or she just made it up on the spot and hoped it was true

2

u/astro_plane 5d ago

What a dumb bitch

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u/2_Sheds_Jackson 5d ago

Well, it's Paris.

12

u/AliveInIllinois 5d ago

Why would that be a reason to not watch?

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u/x_lincoln_x 5d ago

Sports are dumb.

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u/IAmThePonch 5d ago

You’re being downvoted for telling the truth

Or maybe it’s not that sports are dumb, but the media culture surrounding them are. Someone enjoys playing a particular sport, that’s fine by me

1

u/x_lincoln_x 4d ago

I fully expected to get downvoted by the meat-heads. Worth it.

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u/ukexpat 5d ago

This will make their coverage even more sucky than usual. Sob stories every 15 minutes and an AI Al? Ffs.

4

u/gatsby712 5d ago

An AI Al telling sob stories while drinking Ale.

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u/x_lincoln_x 5d ago

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

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u/CheeseSandwich 4d ago

Wait until AI Michaels' face gets slapped on a lunch kit.

6

u/jerseyhound 5d ago

Literally no one in the intended audience asked for this or wants this.

7

u/KrackSmellin 5d ago

And more fake cheering and clapping that isn’t ever going on at the live events they broadcast:

Rockefeller Christmas Tree lighting
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Olympics
4th of July Macy’s Fireworks

I’ve had people go to these and say they never hear any of what NBC adds in. It’s annoying and tiresome how they have to fake things here… been doing it for years.

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u/restore_democracy 5d ago

AI Madden will be using the telestrator to break down gymnastics routines.

7

u/ironroad18 5d ago

"You see she runs deep in the pocket with this dismount, here and here. The opposing gymnasts fall back into a zone defense."

0

u/PMzyox 5d ago

We already have AI Madden in every year of the game lmao

21

u/Unita_Micahk 5d ago

John Madden explaining pole vaulting would be epic

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u/BeRad85 5d ago

“The way the pole works…” draws circle on screen so jagged some fans call 911 to request a wellness check. “Is it anchors into the ground,” draws U.S. Navy battleship anchor, “And the resistance combines with the limber design of the pole to transfer the vaulter’s body weight into Brett Favre.” Draws open-ended loop with a dot near the closed to end resemble Favre’s penis.

4

u/MaximumStep2263 5d ago

I wish they'd use Al Michaels from Baseketball

7

u/MyDictainabox 5d ago

I hate this. I hate it so much. Humans continuously trying to factor each other out of the equation.

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u/EasterBurn 5d ago

l hope people who designed uppercase "i" to look the same as lowercase "l" on the serif font to burn in heII.

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u/MrJohnnyDangerously 5d ago

Somehow this is even worse than using AI to make deep fake porn or steal jobs.

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u/ironroad18 5d ago

AI porn with Al Michaels, featuring Pat Summeral, Howard Cosell, and John Madden

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u/MrJohnnyDangerously 5d ago

Madden & Summeral? I'm back in.

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u/gatsby712 5d ago

Gentlemen you had my curiosity ... but now you have my attention.

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u/MrTerrific2k15 5d ago

“Thanks, John”

4

u/bmbreath 5d ago

And now back fo the grid iron.

2

u/BeardyAndGingerish 5d ago

Wellp, there goes the chance anyone else had to replace someone. Way to go, NBC.

4

u/us1087 5d ago

Dear NBC,

No one wants this.

Signed, Everyone.

3

u/Sdn61387 5d ago

If ai Al is as hilariously bored and uncaring as Thursday night football Al, I'm all about this

3

u/OrangeRedBlueViolet 5d ago

I’ve been waiting for this. I really wanted to see and hear an AI version of Al Michaels. Said no one in the history of time.

3

u/Mygaffer 5d ago

I won't watch shit with AI actors.

3

u/TheRealDrSarcasmo 5d ago

I suspect it's really because even the broadcasters themselves can't stand NBC's usually shitty Olympics coverage.

4

u/microtramp 5d ago

But, why?

6

u/Skeetronic 5d ago

Every four years I complain about the awful coverage for several weeks then just google the highlights. Sad that we can’t enjoy it in real time.

3

u/kvdp12 5d ago

UGH, make it fucking stop (it’s just the beginning)

2

u/aag8617 5d ago

Forgive my ignorance, but this almost reminds me of Madden games. I wonder how different it will be.

2

u/Kind_Bullfrog_4073 5d ago

And there go the announcers jobs

2

u/dmc2008 5d ago

Literally nobody wants this.

2

u/magic9669 5d ago

So, A.I. Michaels. Got it

2

u/sensation_construct 5d ago

Can rich boomers fucking give over the reigns already? Goddamit. Give someone else a chance.

2

u/raytracer38 5d ago

We're living in the weirdest timeline.

2

u/intheintricacies 5d ago

It’s like I never left r/30ROCK

2

u/clydefrog811 5d ago

So in stead of a real person getting paid nbc will use this bullshit to save money.

2

u/victorspoilz 5d ago

Guess I'm not watching the Olympics. Who's asking for this from the viewership side?

1

u/bs_hunter 5d ago

As if I needed another reason to not watch NBC’s complete garbage coverage of the Olympics…

2

u/zethuz 5d ago

Forget AI, just hope NBC uses some common sense while broadcasting the games

2

u/monkeyhoward 5d ago

One more reason not to watch the Olympics

1

u/jimmysledge 5d ago

I’d be willing to bet that a real human being would like the paycheck that the AI is taking away from them

1

u/Educational-Coast771 5d ago

Still waiting for AI Madden - talking about turduckens

1

u/imnotreadyet 5d ago

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ...AI

1

u/cwh711 5d ago

AI Al

1

u/Mertthesmurf 5d ago

They could really superimpose other runners from previous years and show where they would be.

1

u/RubbuRDucKee 5d ago

We could get rid of cris cillinsworth and AI John madden

1

u/CheeseSandwich 4d ago

At this point I am surprised NBC's coverage of the Olympics doesn't simply consist of 24 hour broadcasts of a flapping US flag overlaid with the words "USA! USA! USA!"

1

u/Stopher 4d ago

I don't see the big deal. They've been doing this in John Madden Football for 30 years.😂

1

u/bigmacjames 5d ago

For the good of humanity, we need this to go horribly wrong

0

u/NYCmob79 5d ago

NBC trying to get even bigger Fake News status. AI Fake News Propaganda! FJB!

-7

u/BenVera 5d ago

Finally

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u/TossPowerTrap 5d ago

Appears that some people get more puffy about what they don't watch than what they do.

1

u/Melodic_Mulberry 5d ago

I don't live in Poland, but when Nazi Germany invades them, it doesn't bode well.

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u/TossPowerTrap 5d ago

Nice Godwin! Haven't seen one in a while.

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u/Melodic_Mulberry 5d ago

"Godwin has criticized the over-application of the adage, claiming that it does not articulate a fallacy, but rather is intended to reduce the frequency of inappropriate and hyperbolic comparisons."

1

u/Peaceout3613 2d ago

Gross!

NBC Will Debut an A.I. Al Michaels for the Paris Olympics

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