Al Michaels, via AI, to cover daily Olympics highlights on Peacock

Do you believe in microchips?

The AI ​​boom has made its way to one of the most legendary voices in American TV history. Via Tom Kludt of VanityFair.com, an AI version of Al Michaels will tell daily highlights during the upcoming Olympic Games, for what will be called “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock.”

“Honestly, it was amazing,” Michaels told Kludt. “It was amazing. And it was a little scary. . . . Not only was it close, it was almost 2% off, perfect. I think, wow.”

Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports (and the man you can blame for the 15-year NBC/PFT partnership starting next Monday), said Michaels was the “perfect choice” for the role.

“Al deserves credit for engaging with this technology so enthusiastically,” Cordella told Kludt.

It’s just another development in the continued spread of AI technology. If audiences ever accept it for live events (unlikely, but who knows?), it could make live broadcasters obsolete.

“I just sat there and thought, ‘In the next life, I’m going to need a new profession,’” says Michaels, the play-by-play announcer for Amazon’s Thursday night footballKludt said.

Or maybe the AI ​​version of Al can call games and/or narrate NFL highlights indefinitely into the future.