FEED Winter 2023 Web

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the full FEED automation Masterclass

VERITY BUTLER: What does the future hold with the increased deployment of automation tools?

PETER ABECASSIS: I think AI is definitely going to start influencing a lot of the automation workflow tools in the future. Ross has talked a lot about sport, but you could see a near future where some kind of engine is following the game, listening to the play-by-play – or all the data that’s been created around any kind of sporting event – then using that to find the highlights of the clip automatically, building highlight reels automatically, cutting to that reel automatically when there’s a pause in the action. There are so many things that AI is capable of doing in a seamless way. It’s really about helping operators in an unscripted environment make decisions more quickly and accurately than we would be able to – faster than the human brain is actually capable of doing on its own. ROSS TANNER: Automating play-by-play event data is going to be something massive for the industry – certainly for the top leagues and competitions that exist out there. I think, eventually, if they can get that right, it’s going to be really compelling. In terms of Magnifi, we don’t actually need an operator or data source to timestamp our clips. Through our AI that we’ve developed, through facial recognition, through the broadcast graphics and through the commentary feed, that enables us to create the clips automatically. From our side, that’s a critical path to reach those that don’t have event data packages. It’s

really important for us, as we target Tier 2 and downwards, where budgets are tighter and there is more need for this type of solution. PAUL CHARLESTON: I would just add another piece of the industry, which is thinking about the other massive buzzwords other than AI, which are FAST channels. Again, we’re looking at the social aspect and the way that audiences are changing. I see that FAST channels will become easier to spin up for companies because they understand what they need. This gives the ability for an automation system to be looking at what’s trending on TikTok – as an example – track that data, work it into your system, then bring a load of footage and spin up a new FAST playout channel. SIMON BROWNE: The holy grail is a configurable system. It’s going to be hard to achieve. Video systems have managed to cater for those secondary changes, and it would be something to have the intercom self-configuring the way that it knows how it did the last time. It’s understanding what video feeds and audio feeds are coming. It’s understanding where the remotes are and achieving that in an automated fashion. What we’re trying to achieve is that the intercom system should disappear into the background. But without it, of course, things fall apart. I think that intercom could be highly and intelligently automated in the future.

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