Look back to a time when emotions got the better of you at a live event. We all have a series of “I was there moments” in our minds - it might be a rock concert, a thriller of a cup final, or when your child first made the podium in their hobby/sport.If you are in the business of trying to capture these unique emotions - crafting stories around them and distributing them - new technology eventually comes along that enables you to automate most of that. I took notice.

Artificial intelligence is enabling us to do this in increasingly remarkable and human-like ways.

But having empathy for your audience is key to engaging the emotions - so is the tech really good enough? Who wins the battle between AI and humans?

Let’s dive deeper into the way that innovation is changing the game in numerous ways.

Content clipping & distribution

Speed of distribution is key to get reach for your event. In live sports, for example, digital impressions and reach can grow exponentially from being quick to distribute across social media, to streamers, to multiple platforms and in multiple formats.

AI is able to detect key moments, package highlights, and find the “emotion” in a game. The pace of innovation is rapid in this area, as is the upside of such a clear efficiency win. However, I don’t think we are fully AI-led quite yet in content clipping. I am a fan of Levuro - which uses AI to do the heavy-lifting - but still enables a social media manager to drive the edit and craft the story.

Human 1:0 Artificial Intelligence

Engagement for fans

Your phone is buzzing. It’s a message from the great Leo Messi, inviting you to watch the footy with your best mate. Titled ‘Messi Messages,’ this award-winning campaign uses first-of-its-kind AI technology to allow you to send personalized messages to your friends from the legend himself.

It is a brilliant campaign that taps into the hero-isation of sports stars, and the desire of the younger generation to feel closer to their icon. ‘Messi Messages’ is an example of a campaign offering real value – for both the brand and the fan.

Human 1:1 Artificial Intelligence

Measurement

RealEyes’ Emotional Recognition software tracks and analyzes facial expressions and categorizes different human emotions depending on changes in the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth.

They detected that tennis was the most euphoric sport to watch. Could this insight be valuable when trying to attract viewers or even commercially in terms of sponsors? A ‘euphoric’ fanbase could be more relevant to a certain brand than a shocked one, for example. As a Brit living abroad trying to explain test match cricket to the uninitiated, it was noteworthy that the software even detects confusion and indifference.

Human 1:2 Artificial Intelligence

Brand communications

As part of Michelob Ultra’s ‘Joy is the Perfect Trophy’ campaign, the brand wanted to deliver a message that everyone could relate to: Don’t forget to enjoy the journey.

Another award winner that took McEnroe today and created an AI generated avatar of McEnroe from his heyday. It was crafted into a 40 minute show on ESPN with an audience of 10 million viewers. The story and idea holds the piece together, as the avatar is a little bit hard to grasp. Great effort, good idea, but the tech is just not quite there yet.

Human 2:2 Artificial Intelligence

A draw is the right result

We are busy crafting a new era in sports and entertainment, and reinventing formats and distribution that meet the needs of our new generations growing up today. For example, TMRW golf will launch a new hybrid/stadium golf format in 2024 which will reimagine how golf is marketed to a generation that wants to be closer to the action. The technology used will enable virtual and real golf to combine to create a more engaging and “ring-side” vibe. Technological advances play a fundamental role in everything ranging from formats, to brand marketing, to language versioning, to distribution and measurement. It is a dramatic revolution that is changing everything. No space will be left untouched; and I haven’t even got to the topic of the Metaverse yet!

Content creators know that the nuances of the backstory are key to the emotional response. That backstory is a tough challenge for AI to understand - which is why I believe in this relatively early phase of AI, we need to shepherd this revolution with a guiding human hand. We must ensure that we do it responsibly, in a way that enhances the emotional experiences, not overload them just for simple financial gain. If we do things the right way, AI will be the greatest enabler - limited only by our imaginations. Without that holding hand, we risk flooding our brains with rather meaningless, unemotional content.