AI-enabled system to protect athletes from online abuse during Paris 2024

The Olympic rings are seen in a celebration of the International Olympic Committee's announcement that Paris will host the 2024 Olympic Games, at the Trocadero Square in Paris, France, on Sept. 13, 2017. [Xinhua]

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday that a new AI-powered monitoring system will protect athletes and officials from online abuse during the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"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," according to an IOC statement.

IOC said the AI-powered system will monitor thousands of accounts on all major social media platforms and in over 35 languages in real time, and any identified threats will be flagged.

IOC said the system was successfully piloted during Olympic Esports Week in 2023, analyzing more than 17,000 public posts, flagging 199 potentially abusive messages from 48 authors targeting accounts from a study set of 122 players and two official IOC accounts.

A joint project developed by the IOC Athletes' Commission and the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, the system will also help the IOC better understand the challenges that athletes face in relation to online abuse, enabling it to further enhance athlete protection at future events.

The online monitoring system will be available to cover 15,000 athletes and more than 2,000 officials across the Olympic and Paralympic Games.