When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
For Olympic athletes, trainers, and fans of the games, the Paris 2024 Olympics can’t come fast enough.
However, this year might be a transformational one in the Game’s long history — artificial intelligence (AI) applications are entering the stadium en masse.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic stifling the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics – delaying the games for a year and becoming the first Olympic games held without fans – the excitement for 2024 gets an extra boost by Intel signing up as the (slightly long) title of ‘Official Worldwide AI Platform Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.’
IOC’s Chief Information Technology Officer Ilario Corna said: “Through their AI-powered solutions, Intel has enabled us to deploy AI faster than ever before.
“Together, in Paris 2024, our collaboration will create an Olympic experience like never before, embodying our shared commitment to building a better world through sport.”
Techopedia explores what this actually means — and also glances at the other new tech entrants to the Games — 5G connectivity platforms and 8K live stream broadcasting.
Key Takeaways
- The IOC and Intel announce its AI agenda ready for this summer’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
- As the ‘Official Worldwide AI Platform Partner of the Games,’ Intel showcases AI training, talent spotting, and immersive experiences for both athletes and attendees.
- AI will facilitate end-to-end 8k live streaming and tailored highlight packages to be broadcast across the globe.
- The IOC is looking beyond Paris 2024, exploring AI’s potential to discover future Olympic athletes.
Intel’s Partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Firstly, this isn’t Intel’s first Olympic rodeo.
Intel began as an IOC Olympic partner in 2017, and brought 5G to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
Intel had an even bigger display in store for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, with 1,824 Intel Premium drones performing jaw-dropping AI-generated aerobatics — a hovering 3D globe designed to communicate the IOC’s narrative of ‘connection, unity, and hope’ amid the pandemic.
Not just visually impressive, the AI-generated aerobatics created a hovering 3D globe designed to communicate the IOC’s narrative of ‘connection, unity, and hope’ amid the pandemic.
In addition to the eye-catching ceremonial drone displays, AI is now starting to be used to help transform fans’ and spectators’ experiences of the games for the better.
AI’s most prominent component saw the first inclusion of Intel’s 3D Athlete Tracking (3DAT) technology at the Tokyo 2020 games.
For the first time in Olympic history, viewers were able to watch AI-enhanced augmented reality, relaying real-time athlete performance insights during selected televised events.
This advancement in broadcasting technology provided athlete statistics, live peak speeds, and race details as the athletes sprinted around the track in events that included the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relays.
Outside of Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, basketball fans were also treated to Intel’s True View technology, which, for the first time, provided viewers with three-dimensional, 360° video replays from games at the Saitama Super Arena.
AI Innovations for Paris 2024
For 2024, Intel has built 3D models of the Team USA High Performance Centre in Paris and the International Paralympic Committee headquarters in Bonn, Germany.
Utilizing AI built on Intel processors, users can access indoor and voice navigation around both complexes via smartphone.
Once the games begin, onsite venues will also provide attendees with insight into the journey to become an Olympic athlete and the levels of training that are typically involved… except with an interactive edge.
In collaboration with Samsung, Intel plans to use its Gaudi accelerators and Xeon processors with built-in AI acceleration, optimized with OpenVINO, to allow participants to rate their performances against their favourite athletes.
Available across a range of Olympic disciplines, the AI-powered fan activation applications onsite will measure and analyze a spectator’s performance in an event-specific athletic drill. Instantly, AI can provide metrics offering a direct comparison with every athlete participating in the games to see how, as a contender, they might fare in the competition.
And it’s not just the fans who will benefit from the sporting-inspired AI innovation — coaches and athletes have also been using applications for the experiences of peak competition.
Elements such as performance optimization allow AI to identify an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses in real-time, which could add a distinct new edge in individual and team Olympic disciplines.
Pioneering Olympic Broadcasting with AI
Aside from the sparkly interactive elements the IOC’s AI agenda brings to the table, for the viewers at home, it will be end-to-end 8K live streaming experience, which uses ‘Deep Learning Boost’ that may excite fans the most.
AI automation will also enable broadcasters to deliver personalized digital content — the Olympic Broadcasting Services Automatic Highlights Generation will instantly compile and send out customised highlights as the action unfolds.
AI’s Impact Beyond Paris 2024
Ultimately, leveraging AI will certainly help the IOC and Intel spread the appeal of the 2024 Paris Olympics to a global audience.
The IOC and Intel envision the scope of their AI agenda to begin to have a lasting impact on the future of the Olympic Games.
A recent example of this was in a recent collaboration with the Senegalese Olympic Committee to uncover a crop of future athletes across a series of sporting disciplines.
The Bottom Line
While AI is helping to format the modern-day Olympics into an immersive spectator experience, it is also beginning to help the athletes train and may one day be responsible for discovering future gold medal Olympians.
Anyone who has used AI in the office or to manage their home lives may understand the edge it can give them. Competitive athletes will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of greatness.
For fans at home, the biggest impact is likely to come through our TV sets — and when the events are over, AI will have another four years to evolve and compete even further.
