Tennis

Wimbledon Uses AI To Combat Online Abuse Against Tennis Players

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6 months ago

July 6, 2024

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Wimbledon Uses AI To Combat Online Abuse Against Tennis Players

In order to shield Wimbledon players from online harassment, the All England Lawn Tennis Club is reportedly using artificial intelligence for the first time, according to The Guardian. With the use of artificial intelligence, this programme keeps an eye on players’ social media accounts that are visible to the public and highlights racist, sexist, and death threat comments in 35 different languages.

High-profile players, such as former US Open champion Emma Raducanu and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, have previously spoken out about the online abuse they faced, leading them to delete Instagram and Twitter, now known as X, from their phones. British No 2 Harriet Dart also mentioned that she only uses social media occasionally due to the prevalence of online “hate.”

With the introduction of AI, the All England Lawn Tennis Club aims to create a safer online environment for all its players.

Speaking to The Guardian after her triumph against Katie Boulter, the British No 1, Dart said: “I just think there’s a lot of positives for it [social media], but also a lot of negatives. I’m sure today, if I open one of my apps, regardless of whether I win, I’d have a lot of hate as well.”

Jamie Baker, the tournament’s director, said Wimbledon had introduced the social media monitoring service Threat Matrix. The system, developed by the AI company Signify Group, will also be rolled out at the US Open.

Baker said, “This is not something you would see in the public domain at all. You won’t see us shouting about it, but basically, we are scrolling through social media for any type of content, which means that we can get information that we haven’t had in the past.

“We’re not just relying on what the player might be saying has happened to them, but also if there is something that is of concern, that is when our security team is going to basically kick in and actually help do something about it.”