The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will use a monitoring system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to protect athletes and officials from online abuse at the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in Paris this summer. The system will monitor thousands of accounts on all major social media platforms and in more than 35 languages in real time, the IOC explained in a statement on Tuesday. “Any identified threats will be flagged, so that abusive messages can be dealt with effectively by the relevant social media platforms “in many cases before the athlete has even had the chance to see the abuse,” the IOC said. According to the statement, Paris 2024 will mark the first time that AI will be in use to provide safe online spaces for such a large number of athletes competing in so many sports at the same time. “These systems are in place so that the athletes can really focus on their performance, and they know that everything else is taken care of,” said Kirsty Burrows, head of the safe sport unit at the IOC. The Paris Olympics are to take place from July 26 to August 11, while the Paralympic Games are on August 28 - September 8. (DPA)
