-IBM Granite puts generative AI to work for fantasy football
users, offering more detailed reasoning around players' assigned
waiver grades and trade grades
-New IBM and Morning Consult survey finds that fantasy
football users are turning to AI to enhance digital performance and
experience in fantasy leagues
ARMONK,
N.Y., Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM
(NYSE: IBM) and ESPN are unveiling enhancements to the ESPN Fantasy
app – powered by generative AI technologies from IBM's AI and data
platform, watsonx – designed to deliver a more customized and
engaging digital experience for more than 12 million fantasy
football users. The announcement comes as new research commissioned
by IBM and conducted by Morning Consult confirms fantasy football
users are increasingly embracing AI to improve their rosters and
overall fantasy football experiences.
Now available, the "Top Contributing Factors" within the Waiver
Grade and Trade Grade features offers more detailed reasoning
around a player's assigned grades. The information appears as
bulleted statements and is generated by IBM's Granite large
language model. The grades themselves are personalized to each team
and produced by AI models built with IBM watsonx, taking into
account large volumes of complex data including player performance,
articles written by football experts, and the specific needs of
each fantasy owner's roster. Examples of the benefits to fantasy
football participants include:
- Personalized player grades based on each team's
needs
- Transparent explanations of AI-generated player
grades
- Predictions of each player's potential upside and
downside
The new1 and updated features bolster a suite of
IBM watsonx-powered tools, including Trade Analyzer with IBM
watsonx and Player Insights with IBM watsonx, all of
which transform large volumes of football data into insights that
can help ESPN Fantasy Football users make more informed decisions
about their lineups.
A new survey1 from IBM and Morning Consult of 500
fantasy football users in the United
States confirms that surveyed fantasy football users are
embracing AI-powered solutions to help enhance their lineups and
overall league performances. Key highlights from respondents
include:
- Nearly 90% of users regularly engage with at least one AI or
AI-related tool.
- 82% confirmed they leverage trade and waiver suggestions to
improve their fantasy lineups.
- Of users not yet engaged with the technology, 92% surveyed
indicated they would find AI helpful in their fantasy football
efforts.
"Millions of people participate in fantasy football on the ESPN
Fantasy platform each year, and they are constantly looking for the
best information available to complete in and win their leagues.
This year's enhancements in the ESPN Fantasy platform put
watsonx-powered insights directly in their hands, giving them
access to personalized, data-driven insights that help
deliver on these expectations," said Noah Syken VP, Sports and Entertainment
Partnerships. "These same generative AI technologies on watsonx
including IBM Granite are also at work for businesses across all
sectors, turning complex information into actionable insights that
modernize their workflows."
Entering its eighth consecutive year, the collaboration between
IBM and ESPN Fantasy Football continues to tap into the latest
technologies from watsonx to transform football data into
compelling and helpful information for fantasy team owners. This
includes IBM's Granite collection of large language models, as well
as IBM watsonx Code Assistant which provides AI-generated coding
recommendations and developer insights.
For more information on watsonx, visit:
https://www.ibm.com/watsonx.
To play ESPN Fantasy Football, sign up at ESPN.com/FFL or
download the ESPN Fantasy App from the App Store and Android
stores.
1 Based on an online survey conducted in
August 2024, among a sample of 500
Fantasy Football Users Ages 18 to 45 in the US.
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and
consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries
capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business
processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their
industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in
critical infrastructure areas such as financial services,
telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud
platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and
flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's
long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more
information.
Media contact:
IBM
Sarah Benchaita
sarah.benchaita@ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM