ESPN testing an AI avatar to add analysis and opinion to SEC Nation college football show

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• ESPN is testing an AI-generated avatar for SEC Nation
• FACTS will provide analysis during the popular college football show
• ESPN says “It complements our journalists and on-air talent, providing additional insights”

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ESPN is trialling a new AI-generated avatar which the TV network hopes to add to its popular college football show, SEC Nation.

The AI avatar called FACTS is being trialed for “pre-game discussions, promoting education and fun around sports analytics.” The project has been developed at the ESPN Edge Innovation Center to foster engagement and educate fans on sports analytics related to college football.

Baron Miller, coordinating producer for SEC Network/ESPN told Front Row, “FACTS is designed to test innovations out in the market and create an outlet for ESPN Analytics’ data to be accessible to fans in an engaging and enjoyable segment. It complements our journalists and on-air talent, providing additional insights.”

He added, “FACTS is built on NVIDIA Omniverse, using its ACE microservices, and integrates with Azure OpenAI for language processing and ElevenLabs for text-to-speech.” Combined with ESPN Analytics data and team statistics, FACTS is seen as a way to engage a new audience wanting to get invested in college football.

AI sports analysis on ESPN

ESPN hasn’t showcased FACTS in action and the company has already used generative AI to create recaps of sports matches. However, the AI recaps have come under scrutiny for errors such as completely forgetting to reference USWNT legend Alex Morgan in the final game of her professional career, instead focusing on the scoreline and the goalscorers.

ESPN doesn’t see AI as a way to replace its journalists, however, instead, the company thinks AI-generated recaps frees up its human writers to focus on more interesting topics. An ESPN spokesperson defended the use of AI by saying, “These automated recaps will allow ESPN staff to focus on feature, analysis and breaking news coverage. ESPN has always worked to combine human capability with emerging technologies as part of its mission to serve sports fans.”

SEC Nation is an incredibly popular show every Saturday during the college football season. With a start time of 10 AM ET, it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce a friendly AI-generated analyst to help educate children and adults alike on the sport. ESPN has yet to announce when we’re likely to see FACTS on our TVs, but considering the quick rate of AI adoption across the world of media, we don’t expect we’ll have to wait long.

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