At the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, F1 is set to debut a new artificial intelligence called “Statbot” in collaboration with Amazon.com Inc, with Amazon executives outlining plans for AI-powered personalized broadcasts to keep viewers engaged.
Using technology from the company's Seattle-based Amazon Web Services cloud-computing unit, Statbot will comb through race archives and crunch reams of real-time race data to provide insight and trivia for live presenters during the Barcelona race, said Neil Ralph, who heads the company's technology work with F1.
It's a sign that AI is making inroads into media, and that F1 owner Liberty Media is looking for ways to keep fans glued to their screens.
Liberty, led by billionaire cable mogul John C. Malone, bought F1 from CVC Capital Partners in a deal announced in 2016. Since then, the company has focused on boosting the sport's global appeal, building viewership with marketing tactics such as the Netflix behind-the-scenes documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.”
But in an engineering-heavy sport where the main human actors hide behind helmets, executives also want ways to enliven live-race broadcasts. The companies say they're also using AI to provide in-race predictions, such as when to make pit stops or when drivers should try to pass rivals, based on real-time details like car performance and tire degradation.
“With this data and this intimacy with the fans, we can consider hyper-personalized experiences,” Eric Gales, managing director of AWS Canada, said in an interview at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal earlier this month.
“That's the direction we're heading in,” Ralph said, “so that fans can choose how much data they want to see and what stories they want to hear.”
Competing with other sports, streaming shows, TikTok and video games, the battle for attention has never been fiercer. F1 has boosted its U.S. viewership with Netflix series and new races like the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but the sport is sometimes criticized for being too predictable. Last year, F1's top driver, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, won 19 of 22 races. This year, he has won six of nine races.
“We can't just rely on delivering a passive experience,” F1's director of broadcast and media, Dean Lock, told reporters in Montreal remotely from the group's media and technology centre in Biggin Hill, England.
First Edition: June 24, 2024 | 12:48 AM IST
