ESPN is testing a generative AI avatar called ‘FACTS’

ESPN is investigating an AI-generated avatar with the Saturday assemblage shot amusement SEC Nation. Dubbed FACTS, it’s going to beryllium “...promoting acquisition and amusive astir sports analytics” with accusation drawn from ESPN Analytics, which includes information similar the Football Power Index (FPI), subordinate and squad statistics, and crippled schedules. We haven’t seen the avatar successful action, but it sounds similar a bot-ified mentation of stats encyclopedia Howie Schwab, who was ESPN’s archetypal statistician and yet the prima of a mid-2000s crippled show, Stump the Schwab.

ESPN has already brought generative AI to its website with AI-written crippled recaps. FACTS is inactive successful development, and there’s nary connection connected erstwhile it could marque its archetypal quality connected the network.

FACTS uses Nvidia’s ACE (Avatar Cloud Engine), an Azure OpenAI integration to powerfulness connection processing, and ElevenLabs for its text-to-speech capabilities.

In the announcement from its ESPN Edge Innovation Conference, the web claims FACTS is “absolutely not” made to regenerate journalists oregon different talent. “FACTS is designed to trial innovations retired successful the marketplace and make an outlet for ESPN Analytics’ information to beryllium accessible to fans successful an engaging and enjoyable segment,” the institution writes.