AI-based sports commentators? Judges? X Games CEO likes what he sees so far

The X Games debuted its Google Cloud-based "Owl AI" technology in January. Based on the early returns, its potential as an event judge is promising.

"Last night, on live TV, The Owl Ai accurately predicted our gold, silver and bronze medalists in super-pipe by watching practice," X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom wrote on his LinkedIn account. "So wild!!"

In a new interview with Sports Business Journal, Bloom expanded on why the technology left him so amazed.

"We had six weeks to build it,” Bloom told Ethan Joyce. “And we weren’t just building it to show a product demo at an event like a conference. We were putting it on live TV.”

The technology was designed to assist judges in scoring by potentially removing bias. It debuted at the Men’s SuperPipe event in Aspen. Bloom told SBJ that X Games is programming Owl AI for other X Games sports as it prepares for its Sacramento event in August.

The potential for the technology is clear. The X Games — a brand synonymous with the cutting edge of sports, where experimentation is part of its DNA — offer the ideal testing ground.

Other sports that require human judges, like gymnastics and figure skating, present obvious use-cases if Owl AI continues to "learn" from its early successes. Bloom also told SBJ that Owl "started providing commentary as it recognized the tricks," which could ultimately supporting the X Games’ international fan base on broadcasts because it can translate to numerous languages.

Considering how much rancor human judges tend to inspire, don't expect any skiers or snowboarders to shed a tear if an AI script proves more accurate in the long run.

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