"Honestly offensive" - Wimbledon using 'sh**ty' AI to summarize details of Emma Raducanu, Daria Kasatkina & others infuriates tennis journalist

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg recently lamented Wimbledon using Artificial intelligence (AI) on its website as AI provided wrong information about Emma Raducanu and Daria Kasatkina. Wimbledon 2024 kicked off on July 1.

Wimbledon recently launched a CATCH ME UP feature on its website and app which provides summaries of singles tennis players, giving details about their last matches, and potential challenges they could face in their next match, along with highlights of the match, if available. The player list can be personalized according to the user preferences.

The catch of this feature is that the summaries are written by AI (Artificial Intelligence) instead of journalists. As with AI, there are errors in these summaries. Emma Raducanu was mislabeled as the British No. 1 as opposed to Katie Boulter who holds the highest WTA ranking of World No. 29. Daria Kasatkina, who is an established player with seven titles and a career-high ranking of World No. 8, was described as an 'up and coming player'.

Journalist Ben Rothenberg voiced his opinion against the use of AI at Wimbledon and wrote:

"Honestly offensive that the world’s richest tennis tournament is outsourcing writing jobs to sh**ty AI tbh!"

Digital Products Lead at the All England Club, Chris Clements, commented about the use of AI at Wimbledon in a statement. He said that AI would help provide personalized content to the users and make it easier for fans to interact.

"We are committed to offering fans the highest quality Wimbledon experience, whether it’s in person or digitally. Generative AI allows us to scale our ability to provide different types of content for fans wherever they are in the world in a way that’s personalised for them. This year’s new Catch Me Up feature will make it easier for fans to follow the key storylines as they emerge throughout The Championships," Clements said (via IBM Newsroom).

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Emma Raducanu and Daria Kasatkina reach the second round at Wimbledon 2024

Emma Raducanu and Daria Kasatkina at the Rothesay International at Eastbourne

Emma Raducanu and Daria Kasatkina both started their Wimbledon campaigns on a strong footing and won their first-round matches.

Raducanu defeated Renata Zarazua 7-6(0), 6-3. The Brit's serve was broken just once while she broke Zarazua's serve twice once in both sets to clinch the match. She will now play Elise Mertens in the second round.

Kasatkina, meanwhile, defeated Shuai Zhang in a dominant display as she outfoxed her 6-3, 6-0. The Russian got her serve broken in the first game of the match but recovered well to win 12 of the 13 games to book her ticket in the second round. She will now face British wildcard Yuriko Miyazaki in the second round.