In an exciting development, NBC has announced plans to leverage an artificial clone of renowned sports broadcaster Al Michaels' voice for its daily streaming recaps of the Summer Olympics in Paris. The streaming service, Peacock, will feature a narration from a "high-quality A.I. re-creation" of Michaels' voice, meticulously trained using his previous appearances on NBC to replicate his distinctive expertise and eloquence.

Owned by NBCUniversal, Peacock and NBC News intend to provide viewers with an immersive experience through "Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock." Michaels, now 79 years old, revealed that he was initially skeptical of the proposal from NBCUniversal executives. However, his doubt quickly dissolved after he heard the astonishing AI-generated version of his own voice, which astonishingly greets viewers by name.

Michaels described the experience in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, calling it both amazing and a little bit frightening. He emphasized that the cloned voice mirrored his style with incredible precision, stating that it was nearly 2% off from being perfect. Michaels famously uttered the iconic six words, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" during the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, after the U.S. hockey team accomplished a stunning upset victory against the Soviet Union.

The announcement of using AI technology to recreate Michaels' voice comes at a time when such advancements in artificial intelligence are generating significant public attention and scrutiny. Powered by generative A.I. and A.I. voice synthesis technology, the cloned version of Michaels' voice will provide personalized and customized playlists of Olympic highlights to Peacock streaming subscribers.

With an estimated 7 million personalized variants of the recap available for streaming across the U.S., drawing from NBC's vast 5,000 hours of live coverage, Peacock aims to solidify its position as a leader in live streaming. Kelly Campbell, the president of Peacock and head of NBCUniversal's direct-to-consumer unit, emphasized how these unique customer-first features strengthen their unmatched leadership in the streaming industry.

Having launched nearly four years ago, Peacock now competes in an increasingly crowded market with major players such as Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Max, and Apple TV+. Despite the competition, the introduction of the AI-generated clone of Al Michaels' voice demonstrates NBCUniversal's commitment to offering innovative and immersive experiences to their streaming audience.

As the Summer Olympics approach, viewers can anticipate an unparalleled recap experience infused with the familiar voice of Al Michaels, delivering the excitement and expertise that has made him a legend in the world of sports broadcasting.