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LaLiga transforms fan experience with AI

Also: The Future of Fashion in 2023: AI

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AI KATANA
July 25, 2023

Welcome!

In today's edition, we kick off with the transformative ways LaLiga, Spain's premier football league, has harnessed the power of AI and machine learning to revolutionize the fan experience and enhance strategic decisions. Utilizing Microsoft Azure, LaLiga has been able to interpret millions of real-time data points per match, providing invaluable insights for players, coaches, and fans alike. In a similar vein, a new State of IT report indicates that nearly 90% of IT leaders believe generative AI will significantly impact their organizations, despite ethical and career implications. Meanwhile, in the fashion industry, AI is increasingly stepping onto the runway, raising both opportunities and concerns. Lastly, a recent AI manipulation incident that saw Assassin's Creed actor Victoria Atkin's voice being used without consent in Skyrim is sparking concerns among voice actors.

Sliced:

  • ⚽️ LaLiga transforms fan experience with AI

  • 👨🏻‍💻 State of IT report: Generative AI will soon go mainstream, say 9 out of 10 IT leaders

  • 💃🏼 The Future of Fashion in 2023: AI

  • 🗡️ AI manipulation that put Assassin's Creed actor's voice in Skyrim stokes concerns

Spain's top football league, LaLiga, has fully embraced AI and machine learning technologies to transform the fan experience and enhance the league's strategies. This includes a partnership with Microsoft initiated in 2016, which led to the creation of LaLiga Tech, a tech subsidiary providing technology platforms and services to the sports and entertainment industry. At the core of this transformation is Mediacoach, a data analysis platform powered by Microsoft Azure, which interprets roughly 3.5 million real-time data points per match. Insights from Mediacoach are used by players, coaches, and doctors, while a portal named Beyond Stats repackages this data for fans and media. The league also utilises AI for fan engagement, competition management, and performance analytics. The data captured is not only historical but also real-time, with optical tracking cameras installed in stadiums for match analysis. This comprehensive approach to data application extends to educating fans, media, and commentators to better understand and utilise the data. LaLiga is also exploring new delivery channels for this information, such as OTT streaming services and advanced venue management systems.

The State of IT report from Salesforce indicates that nearly 90% of IT leaders believe generative AI will play a significant role in their organizations, despite two-thirds expressing concerns about its ethical implications and career impacts. The report, which surveyed over 4,000 global IT decision-makers, found that IT teams are struggling to meet shifting business demands, and 86% see generative AI as a means to propel their organizations forward. Process automation is becoming more prevalent due to the focus on efficiency and innovation, while data proliferation is driving new approaches to app development. Despite the increased demand for IT services, only 26% of departments can fully support all app development requests. The report highlights that IT is becoming more involved in building more sustainable operations, with 79% of leaders stating their organizations have set greenhouse gas reduction goals. However, the rising volume of data and increased security threats are driving up security investments, leading to 67% of IT leaders experiencing difficulty in balancing business and security objectives.

The Future of Fashion in 2023 highlights the growing role of AI in the fashion industry, with AI-created models, clothing, and runways seen at AI Fashion Week. Although this brings potential benefits like increased profitability and customization, it also presents concerns about lack of diversity and the potential unemployment threat for models. AI faces criticism for replicating biases, such as the thin, high-cheekboned models dominating the runways. Despite these concerns, businesses are exploring AI's potential, with Google testing a shopping experience using generative AI, and a McKinsey report estimating it could add between $150 and $275 billion to the fashion sector within the next three to five years. However, as AI continues to rise, there is also a countermovement of designers returning to traditional, hands-on methods of fashion design.

Victoria Atkin, who voiced Evie Frye in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Syndicate, has discovered that her character's voice has been used to replace the lead character's lines in Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The manipulation was done without Atkin's consent using AI technology, causing concern among voice actors about the potential misuse of their voices and the impact on their livelihoods. The AI-generated voice was used in a mod titled "Dragonborn Voice Over — Evie Frye AC Syndicate Voice Pack" on Nexus Mods, a leading mod site. Amid ongoing concerns from voice actors about the application of generative AI, negotiations are underway to develop contracts that address this technology's impact on the industry. Ubisoft has called the use of AI voices an "emerging trend" it's monitoring closely.

🛠️ AI tools updates

💵 Venture Capital updates

SoftBank Group is partnering with Symbotic, an automation company, to form a joint venture titled GreenBox Systems aimed at building AI-powered warehouses. With a combined investment of $100 million, the joint venture has contracted to purchase AI-powered systems worth $7.5 billion from Symbotic over six years. This partnership follows Symbotic's public debut through a merger with a SoftBank blank-check firm, increasing SoftBank's stake from 5% to 8% through the acquisition of additional shares from Symbotic's CEO. SoftBank will hold a 65% stake in GreenBox, with Symbotic owning the remainder. The venture will target customers seeking warehouse-as-a-service models for flexibility across the supply chain, amid a growing focus on AI from investors, highlighted by SoftBank's shift to "offence mode".

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