Getty Image / Patrick Smith
For the first time ever, the Augusta National Golf Club is experimenting with commentary on The Masters that is generated using artificial intelligence from IBM’s Watson.
Few things in sports are as synonymous as The Masters and the voice of Jim Nantz. And Jim Nantz will still be front and center for all of The Masters’ commentary on TV.
However, viewers using the incredibly popular smartphone app for The Masters have begun noticing this AI-generated commentary and it is weirding some of them out.
In the lead-up to The Masters, IBM’s Watson “trained a language model to learn golf and deliver insights in real-time like an announcer would,” according to the tweet below. Previously, IBM’s Watson accurately predicted Tiger Woods’ score at the 2022 Masters.
IBM’s Watson, who previously dominated on Jeopardy!, is nailing the golfer’s stats but it doesn’t make the commentary any less weird (for some viewers).
We got a sneak peek at the Masters app’s new AI commentary, which’ll be live this week.
@IBMWatson has trained a language model to learn golf and deliver insights in real time like an announcer would. Here’s an example of what it’ll sound like. pic.twitter.com/Epij5Rcvse
— Stephen Hennessey (@S_HennesseyGD) April 5, 2023
It *is* possible to mute the AI-powered robot on The Masters App:
It's a robot take-over. I am told you can put the AI commentary on mute…
— Stephen Hennessey (@S_HennesseyGD) April 5, 2023
Not a fan:
this is — and i’m adding no exaggeration when i say this Steve — the worst thing i’ve ever heard in my entire life.
— joe м (@dr_pizza_MD) April 5, 2023
If you know, you know:
Huh, I wonder what Watson looks like?
Watson: pic.twitter.com/5xdqqgkLy6— Scott Holdridge (@holdridge_scott) April 5, 2023
The AI-powered commentary didn’t know what to do on the first hole when Jon Rahm 4-putted from just 40 feet away:
Even Watson was speechless when Rahm missed his bogey on one pic.twitter.com/Ro8QpruC0f
— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) April 6, 2023
Seriously though, how did Jon Rahm 4-putt from here on the first hole of The Masters? He then hit a horrendous tee shot on #2 and somehow rebounded to get to -6 through 16 holes and 1 shot off leader Viktor Hovland.
Jon Rahm just four-putted the first from 40 feet. pic.twitter.com/68Dkc97skn
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) April 6, 2023
I, for one, do not welcome our robot overlords when it comes to The Masters and Augusta National. There are an infinite number of ways artificial intelligence will enhance society but commentary at Augusta National is not one of them.
The robot can be muted on The Masters’ app but I wouldn’t hate to see them do away with it entirely before next year, or before the weekend.
For more on how IBM’s Watson is using artificial intelligence to announce The Masters, there’s a good article on Decrypt that goes into the fascinating underlying science of it all. IBM’s Watson also tweeted out this explanatory video:
Our good buddy @TrevorImmelman has a few predictions for this year’s #TheMasters . . . but @IBM Watson AI is making THOUSANDS of predictions, right in @TheMasters app.
Want to see how we do it? Check out https://t.co/k6qbFVnAvQ. pic.twitter.com/FUxs0tcNh0
— IBM Sports & Entertainment (@IBMSports) April 5, 2023