The Associated Press, using automation technology from Automated Insights and data from STATS, announced today it will deliver automated previews for all NCAA Division I men’s basketball games.
While AP has typically provided previews for all NCAA Tournament games, this marks the first time the news cooperative will offer previews for over 5,000 regular-season games.
Automated stories previewing the matchups will begin appearing on the wire the week of Feb. 11.
“We’re pleased to deliver significantly more content of value to our customers,” said Barry Bedlan, AP’s director of sports products. “Given the large number of college games played each season, using automation as a tool to more thoroughly cover this sport makes sense.”
In January, AP and Automated Insights began automating some recaps of NCAA men’s basketball games involving unranked teams using the same technology. These games typically were not staffed with a reporter.
AP Sports editors worked closely with Automated Insights to develop the tools for the automated, data-driven recaps and previews, using STATS post-game data and Automated Insights’ natural language generation platform, Wordsmith. Natural language generation is the software process of creating clear, easy-to-understand stories from data.
“The continued expansion of The Associated Press’ adoption of natural language generation showcases the large-scale value of automated technology in journalism,” said Marc Zionts, CEO of Automated Insights. “It’s an honor to play a fundamental role in the advancement of the AP’s drive toward innovative, automated news generation for data-driven stories and see the way it’s enabled prized writers to spend more time writing critical, qualitative articles.”
AP’s sports report first tapped automation technology in 2012 and now provides most of its sports agate to subscribers through automation. AP uses automation from Automated Insights to produce recaps of all MLB-affiliated minor league baseball games as well as nearly 4,500 stories about U.S. corporate earnings each quarter.
The automation of data-driven stories frees up journalists to focus on enterprise reporting and reduces the amount of data-processing work. AP continues to explore ways to use automation to expand its content offerings and improve its news coverage.
About STATS
STATS is the global leader in sports intelligence, operating at the intersection of sports and technology. The world’s most innovative brands, technology companies, leagues and dozens of world championship teams trust STATS to find their winning edge. STATS combines the industry’s fastest and most accurate data platform with video analysis, sports content and research, player tracking, and the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to provide unparalleled media and team performance solutions. The pioneer of live sports data, STATS continues to speed innovation in the industry with STATS Edge™, the first-ever team performance solution powered by AI. For more information, go to www.stats.com and follow STATS on Twitter @STATS_Insights.
Contact
For media inquiries:
Lauren Easton
Director of Media Relations
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
leaston@ap.org
Kaity Lloyd
Public Relations Manager
Automated Insights
919-770-2824
klloyd@automatedinsights.com
For sponsorship or revenue opportunities:
Barry Bedlan
Sports Products Director
The Associated Press
972-677-2270
bbedlan@ap.org
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