Adam Silver Showcases NB-AI Concept Alongside Victor Wembanyama
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver demonstrated a potential future for NBA fans’ engagement with AI technology during the league’s Tech Summit on Friday.
The showcased interface, named NB-AI, envisions a personalized live game viewing experience on the NBA app, facilitated by an NBA-trained digital assistant.
Silver illustrated a scenario where he interacted with this digital assistant, requesting it to recreate live basketball action “as if it were a Spider-Man movie.”
The result transformed players into cartoon characters, accompanied by dramatic music and digital effects reminiscent of comic book aesthetics.
Spurs rookie standout Victor Wembanyama participated in the demonstration, showcasing features allowing fans to view and purchase the sneakers worn by players in real-time, as well as identifying close contests happening during the game.
While most interactions with AI currently occur through text (like ChatGPT) or voice (like Siri and Google Assistant), companies like OpenAI are advancing algorithmically generated video technology.
OpenAI recently teased a new text-to-video model named Sora, indicating a growing interest in domain-specific AI models tailored for tasks related to sports, such as NBA data analysis and engagement.
The emergence of computer-generated video raises concerns about AI’s impact, from potential misinformation to ethical questions regarding athlete rights and engagement competition with traditional sports.
Silver consistently unveils innovations for fan engagement during NBA All-Star Weekend, previously hinting at concepts like color-changing jerseys and augmented reality features.
In parallel, the NBA continues to explore advancements in merchandising and custom viewing experiences, recently meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss leveraging Vision Pro headsets for enhanced fan engagement.
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