BBC presenter slams 'appalling' Wimbledon decision that will 'kill humanity'

13 July 2023 , 12:09

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Wimbledon have used AI commentators this year

BBC's Annabel Croft has launched an attack on Wimbledon's use of Artificial Intelligence commentators.

The championship, for the first time this year, has been trialling AI via IBM for highlights on Wimbledon's official app and website on outside courts where no human is present to commentate. The All England club could yet go further having failed to rule out replacing line judges with AI.

Croft, a former British No 1 female player herself, has taken the time to listen to AI commentary and says the movement needs to be stopped. She slammed it for having no emotion or feeling and fears it will "kill humanity".

She told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "It's a race against the robot for your job. Listening to that, it was very stiff, it was emotionless, with no feelings at all. Whoever is taking the decision to put a robot on to commentary and, of course, into the wider context of all jobs in life: this is going to kill humanity.

"A robot has no feelings but that's probably going to be built in next. Where are we going in life? This is appalling. I feel like we all need to throw our phones in the river and stop our brains from being overtaken by AI. I really hope someone can stop it."

Roger Federer 'in talks' to join BBC's Wimbledon coverage in emotional return

Her BBC colleague Andrew Cotter has taken a similar view, criticising the AI version of commentary, citing the lack of emotion as a major issue.

"Sometime in the future, I don't think in our lifetime, you'll have something that sounds human – exactly like the real deal," he said. "But it doesn’t matter because where it's coming from is artificial and sport is about emotion."

IBM has defended the new movement, stating that AI commentary is "very much complementing the human element". Kevin Farrar, IBM Sports Partnerships lead, said: "For Wimbledon, it's about providing commentary in the future on matches that don't currently have human commentary – like the seniors, juniors, wheelchair [events]."

This year's Wimbledon has seen several emotionally charged runs to the latter stages. Elina Svitolina, who is flying the flag for Ukraine, recently took time out of the sport to become a mother but has returned and knocked out world No 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the semi-finals. In the men's draw American Chris Eubanks, who until recently was a commentator and a hitting part for pros, made it to the last four, taking Daniil Medvedev to five sets before exiting.

Samuel Meade