IBM is bringing a host of new features including generative AI commentary to the Wimbledon digital fan experience at this year’s championships.

The new feature from IBM, which has been a partner of the Lawn Tennis Association since 1990, will use data from its natural language processing technology Watsonx, which has been in use at the tennis championships since 2010, to produce commentary for all video highlights packages during Wimbledon.

IBM said the new tool has been designed to give fans a more insightful experience when catching up on key moments from matches with highlights videos on the Wimbledon App and wimbledon.com.

Wimbledon 2023 will also see the introduction of IBM AI Draw Analysis, a statistic-modelling tool that uses AI to determine how favourable the route to the final may be for each player in the men’s and women’s singles draw.

The new tool generates a favourability rating for each player along a scale which is based on factors including each player's previous record against potential future opponents, along with a comparison metric gauging each player’s favourability in the draw compared to other competitors.

"We are constantly innovating with our partners at IBM to provide Wimbledon fans, wherever they are in the world, with an insightful and engaging digital experience of the Championships,” said Usama Al-Qassab, marketing and commercial director at the All England Club.

IBM recently announced that it would pause hiring for roles that AI could likely perform.

The company’s chief executive Arvind Krishna said that back-office hires will be suspended or slowed, noting that "I could easily see 30 per cent of that [26,000 total] getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period."

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