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Words by Mark Blair, SVP international, Brightcove BEYOND THE BUZZWORDS There are plenty of bandwagons to jump on in the online video world. The two biggest buzzwords now are AI and esports. But what’s the real story?
are poster children for our data rich, fully connected video ecosystem. Esports turns the cliché of the isolated videogamer on its head. A gamer is now connected to her to peers across the whole world, with promises of fame, prize money and even scholarships at big American universities. And when people see the massive viewing figures of esports, they want to rush to take advantage of what appears to be a lucrative opportunity. AI is equally tantalising and still has a mystique about it that leads to all kinds of speculation about its potential. The fact that machine learning is a kind of black
box, where we don’t always know precisely how the software is working, compounds the heady fantasies about the future of AI. ESPORTS SOBRIETY The viewing numbers around esports, given how young the genre is, truly are impressive, and they illustrate how rapidly a devoted audience can develop and grow in the online video world. Sponsors, platforms and broadcasters imagine a wealth of untapped revenue there and are rushing to cash in. But those who are in esports for the long game will want to take a more sober view.
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t’s easy to get swept along by the latest hype curve. We love new tech, especially if it has the potential to make our lives more
productive or profitable – or just fun. Esports and AI are two buzzwords that have infiltrated many an industry conversation this year – and have been covered a lot in the pages of FEED. They
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