Artificial Intelligence Came to Formula 1! Races Will Now Offer a “Unique” Experience!

Formula 1 plans to implement a new artificial intelligence-supported “Statbot” application in cooperation with Amazon in order to further improve the audience experience and connect the audience to the screens.

This innovative technology will be introduced for the first time at the Spanish Grand Prix. Developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing division, Statbot will crawl race archives and analyze real-time race data, providing context and information to broadcast servers during live broadcasts.

Artificial Intelligence in Sports Broadcasts: F1’s New Step

In a sign of how artificial intelligence is infiltrating the media world, the new technology shows F1 owner Liberty Media Corp. is looking for new ways to keep fans glued to screens.

Since acquiring F1 from CVC Capital Partners in 2016, Liberty has focused on increasing the sport’s global appeal and expanding its audience. The company, which has managed to achieve this goal with marketing moves such as Netflix’s background documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive”, also wants to make live race broadcasts more attractive.

Amazon and F1 plan to use artificial intelligence to offer in-race predictions on things like pit-stop timing or when a driver will try to overtake a rival. These predictions will be based on real-time details such as vehicle performance and tire wear.

“With that data and that intimacy with fans, you can think about delivering hyper-personalized experiences,” AWS Canada General Manager Eric Gales said in an interview at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Dean Locke, F1’s director of broadcasting and media, emphasizes that providing viewers with a passive experience is not enough. F1 aims to make race broadcasts more engaging by allowing viewers to choose how much data they want to see and what stories they want to be told.

Viewers will thus be able to have a personalized viewing experience according to their own preferences. The innovation is seen as part of efforts to bring the sport to wider audiences, with the Netflix series expanding F1’s reach in the US and new races such as the Las Vegas Grand Prix.