Former Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn becomes target of online abuse
Ben Stansall
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US skiing great Lindsey Vonn has welcomed a plan to use artificial intelligence to protect Olympians from vicious online hate, saying she plans to use artificial intelligence to protect Olympians from vicious online hate. He said he had been subjected to “severe harassment”.
The 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics will use AI to protect athletes from abuse.
Bonn, now retired, spoke to AFP on Friday at the International Olympic Committee's AI Agenda launch event at London's Olympic Park, where she recounted her painful experience while competing.
“Social media can be a very positive experience, but unfortunately I experienced the flip side of it, especially before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics,” she said.
“I was severely harassed and people were sending me death threats, which was really painful for me.
“As an athlete trying to perform at the Olympics, it's enough to deal with people wanting you to slide off a cliff.
“The fact that AI is going to be able to delete these comments in real time and not only help prosecute people is huge because I think it's going to change the dynamics of social media. ”
Vonn, 39, who won gold in the women's downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, said she wished she had access to the technology used in Paris.
“That would have saved a lot of anxiety and psychological trauma,” she told a conference in London.
“This is part of being in the public eye and of course you have to deal with it, but if there's a way to minimize that kind of hate speech, that would be very beneficial for athletes.”
Kirsty Burrows, the IOC's head of safe sport, said around 500 million social media posts were expected in Paris.
“We know that social media and sport are inextricably linked and offer great opportunities for engagement, but unfortunately in this digital age online violence is rampant. , we also know that it is inevitable,” she said.
Burrows said the IOC is working with technology providers to leverage AI to “create and foster a digitally secure environment” in Paris.
“15,000 athletes and 2,000 officials and coaches across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are leveraging AI to capture millions of data points and report targeted online abuse of athletes and officials at scale. “It gives us the opportunity to detect in real time,” she said.
The AI system aims to identify threats and remove hateful content before athletes see it.
It is also integrated with safeguarding services at the Games, including mental health and welfare personnel.
“This is the first time this AI solution has been used to cover so many people in so many sports,” Burrows said.
“I think it's really important to have a deeper understanding of the prevalence of online abuse. We know it's happening, but unfortunately people have to get used to it. We hear over and over again that we just have to ignore it, but it's not okay. It's okay if it's not fair, it's okay if it's not right… I hope we can be successful.”
She continued, “By leveraging this AI, we can better understand the typologies of online violence and violence in sports and develop data-driven policies and interventions to create physically and psychologically safe environments for athletes.” It will also be possible to create
