• The IOC will provide a pro-active AI safeguarding tool to protect athletes from cyberabuse.
  • The measures will cover all kinds of abuse, not just political attacks. The IOC gave no details of what kind of access to their accounts athletes would be expected to give it.

OUR TAKE
This move by the IOC will stabilise the athletes’ emotions and promote stable performance during the competition, and protect their personality rights. But does this also go against the idea of free speech? Using AI to moderate and censor social media feeds could be considered a form of digital autocracy.
–Revel Cheng, BTW reporter

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will provide a proactive AI protection tool that will cover a wide range of abuses to protect athletes from online abuse.

What happened

The Olympics kick off on July 26 with more than 10,500 athletes competing across 32 sports, and is expected to generate more than half a billion social media engagements during the 16 days of the event, according to the IOC.

The Games are being staged amid ongoing wars in Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in 2022, and between Hamas and Israel in Gaza – events that have already led to cases of abuse on social media.

“The IOC will use AI at Paris in different areas,” Bach, the IOC President, told a press conference.

“One is safeguarding, since we expect half a billion social media posts during these Games. If someone were to take only one second to read each post it would take them 16 years to go through,” he said.

“The IOC will instead provide a pro-active AI safeguarding tool to protect athletes from cyberabuse. This AI tool offers extensive monitoring, covering 15,000 athletes and officials. This automatically erases abusive posts to shield athletes.”

Also read: AI in cybersecurity: Challenges and opportunities

Also read: Tempus AI prices US IPO at over $6B valuation

Why it’s important

Bach also said political developments in France and upcoming snap parliamentary elections only weeks before the Olympics would not derail either preparations or the Games themselves.

“No, we are not concerned,” Bach said. “Be it the government or the opposition they all express not only their wish but their determination that France presents itself at its best on the occasion of the Olympic Games.”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called a snap parliamentary election for the end of the month after the anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Rally came out on top in a vote for the European Parliament. Whether it is the government or the opposition, they are all French. There is no doubt that France wants to show its best form in international competitions, which will undoubtedly play a role in enhancing its international image and international influence.