IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the United States Tennis Association today announced a suite of Watsonx-powered features to bring new digital experiences to the 2016 US Open. Developed in concert with the USTA’s digital team, these capabilities are designed to provide a more engaging and informative experience for tennis fans around the world.
One important point is that AI-generated match report summaries are to be made available for all men’s and women’s singles matches, created within minutes of every match’s conclusion. Developed using technologies on Watsonx—the IBM AI and data platform, leveraging the power of Granite 13B and other next-gen large language models from the company—these will be long-form post-match articles featuring in-depth player performance analysis, stats, and highlights in accordance with USTA data and editorial standards. The USTA editorial staff reviews and updates content before it is published to the US Open app and USOpen.org to ensure accuracy and context.
Match Reports will greatly extend the USTA’s editorial capability, allowing for full and timely coverage of all 254 main draw singles matches across seven rounds on seventeen courts.
And, an enhanced IBM AI commentary – debuting at the 2023 US Open – will be brought back to the US Open’s digital offerings. The feature generates automated English-language audio and subtitles for match summary highlight videos. This year, IBM will be using an even better Watsonx-powered transcription setup – including the Granite 13B LLM – to deliver even more frequent and expressive commentary – with highlight packages ready just minutes following the conclusion of each match.
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A more beautifully redesigned IBM SlamTracker experience also awaits the fans, complete with robust pre-, live-, and post-match insights—now including likelihood-to-win estimations, minute-by-minute point-by-point analysis, and bulleted match previews and recaps, all built on IBM Watson. Also new is a near-real-time 3D graphic of current play for live matches.
In a larger effort, IBM and the USTA Foundation — USTA’s charitable arm — are in partnership to provide free Career Readiness Training via IBM SkillsBuild. This is consistent with the USTA Foundation’s work to make tennis more accessible to under-resourced youth around the country, In support of helping to level the playing field, and with IBM’s commitment to its goal to reskill 30 million people globally by 2030. The offering is available to select students affiliated with USTA Foundation National Junior Tennis & Learning chapters, eligible teaching professionals, and the general public—comprising AI and professional development classes supplemented with tailored learning paths, workshops, and guidelines on how to get mentored by IBM volunteers. In addition, trainees will also receive a new guidebook and an interactive micro-learning course, which is being made available in both English and Spanish and will be covering the basic concepts and techniques under AI—such as the use of AI in tennis for electronic line-calling and player analytics—along with an introduction leading to the LLMs including IBM Granite.
“Fans want high-quality content around their favorite sports and athletes, and IBM Match Reports enable us to deliver that in real time for the US Open,” explained Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at IBM. “Our ongoing partnership with the USTA, built on more than 30 years of innovation, exemplifies how businesses can modernize and scale their operations using models like Granite and AI technologies like Watsonx.”
Brian Ryerson, Sr. “One of the primary objectives of the US Open Digital Platforms is giving fans around the world coverage of all the tournament action. AI-powered Match Reports allow us to bring fans across the world concise factual match previews and reports for over 150-plus matches across our platforms. This type of efficiency allows our editorial teams to focus on larger storylines and behind-the-scenes interviews to deliver the most comprehensive coverage.”
All of these new features and capabilities just reflect IBM and USTA’s ongoing creation of world-class digital experiences, so that the thrill of the US Open can reach more than 15 million people worldwide each year with every success. USTA is using IBM’s flexible, open hybrid cloud technologies to host these digital experiences of the US Open, which contain the technologies from so many different providers to automate most of the important business processes and offer a coherent experience without any security concerns.
The 2024 US Open will run from August 19 to September 8. To find out more, and to experience IBM technology in action, visit USOpen.org or download the US Open app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
IBM is the global leader in Hybrid Cloud and AI, serving clients in more than 175 countries in the areas of data insights, business process streamlining, cost reduction, and driving a competitive advantage. That includes thousands of organizations across such critical sectors as financial services, telecommunications, and healthcare who are relying on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to drive some degree of rapid, secure digital transformation. Underpinning the company’s leadership in AI, quantum computing, and new industry cloud solutions is an abiding commitment to trust, transparency, and inclusion. Learn more.
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