ESPN Is Creating An 'AI SportsCenter' For 2025, And Let's Imagine What That Will Look Like

PublishedAugust 28, 2024 4:56 PM EDT|UpdatedAugust 28, 2024 4:56 PM EDT

AI is coming to SportsCenter.

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro announced Wednesday during ESPN Media Days that "AI tools will be able to deliver a personalized version of SportsCenter to individual viewers based on their preferences" by the time the company launches its direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2025.

Our understanding is that the AI-powered project will deliver fans customer news, highlights, and analysis only for the teams and players they choose. Which, to ESPN's credit, is a smart decision.

Not everyone wants to hear about LeBron, the Cowboys, and Elle Duncan's rants about abortions. Some of us just want to know how badly Dan Campbell screwed up by going for a fourth down in a last-minute loss.

We don't think, at least not initially, that ESPN will call upon robots or AI-generated characters to host SportsCenter. But who knows?

During the 2024 Summer Olympics, NBC tested out using an AI-generated version of famed sportscaster Al Michaels' voice to recap the events.

AI-Scott Van Pelt? We asked Grok, X's AI tool, to show what that would look like:

Scott Van Pelt via Grok

Grok needs some work.

To that point, below is Grok’s version of Mina Kimes. Please note that this is only a hypothetical because we don’t want her to feel like we are "spreading horrible lies" about her.

Mina Kimes via Grok

On a more serious note, the advancements in AI technology are a severe threat to the future of American civilization.

We published a column in June detailing how America's greediest oligarchs have tethered their futures to the dystopian seeds of an artificially intelligent society that will disempower the human race and exhaust the power supply in the process.

You can read that column in full below:

Back to a lighter note, can you imagine an AI-Stephen A? It probably wouldn't be much different than the real him, no?