Matheus Pereira Castro from CEO-UAB presents research on AI in the Olympic Games at the International Olympic Academy

The research presented at the IOA cautions against diluting core Olympic values if automated coverage reduces the Games to just another sporting competition.

Matheus Pereira Castro, a trainee collaborator at the Olympic Studies Centre (CEO-UAB), presented part of his research focusing on the implementation of artificial intelligence in the journalistic coverage of the Olympic Games during the 33rd International Seminar on Olympic Studies for Postgraduate Students of the International Olympic Academy (IOA), held in the city of Olympia (Greece). The academic session saw the active attendance and participation of more than 30 specialized Olympic studies researchers hailing from 20 different countries, alongside the Dean of the host institution, Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Georgiadis.

The presentation opened a debate regarding the direct implications and impacts of AI on the communication ecosystem surrounding the Olympic Games. The presence of these technological tools across Olympic events dates back to 2016, when the US daily The Washington Post deployed them during the Rio de Janeiro Games to automate the production of news reports. While these initiatives were originally concentrated almost exclusively within American newsrooms, the Paris 2024 Games marked their broader international adoption, with similar projects identified across the Global South, including in Argentina.

The study delves into the specific risks tied to deploying automated workflows in Olympic reporting. According to the insights shared throughout the seminar, relying heavily on AI for news coverage poses the challenge of standardizing the narrative, which may lead to treating the Olympic Games as merely another sports event rather than effectively communicating the core values and distinctive elements that make them globally unique.