Nike serves up AI Serena Williams

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The idea behind this initiative from sports giant Nike was, according to the brand itself: "To explore the evolution of Serena Williams over her decades-long career, we used AI [artificial intelligence] to generate 130,000 games between Serena from two of her most defining career moments — her first Grand Slam in 1999 and her most recent in 2017." What effect does this have on you? Is it just another step in sucking the joy of random and mystique out of every human activity, or are you excited by the precision potential it could entail? Some will doubtless be asking how much impact it had on the environment to develop this level of analytics/entertainment - while AI is hailed as empowering us to work better with Nature in some ways, its development and use also involve a substantial carbon footprint. Nike, founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by sports coach Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, officially became Nike Inc in 1971 - taking its new name from the Greek goddess of victory. The match-up in this Nike campaign pits the Serena who won her first Grand Slam at the 1999 US Open versus her most recent win at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was two months' pregnant. The 40-year-old mother announced her retirement from tennis in August 2022, telling Vogue magazine that 'retirement' is not a word she likes, preferring to speak of 'evolution'. "I’ve been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis," she acknowledges. "I hate that I have to be at this crossroads..... This sport has given me so much. I love to win. I love the battle. I love to entertain..... But these days, if I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter." She is also increasingly active in her investment portfolio, Serena Ventures, which has been an all-female company until they recently made what Serena ironically calls 'a diversity hire'by taking on a man. Does the Nike campaign seem like a fitting tribute to the ongoing legend?

Keywords: Nike 'Never Done Evolving', Nike Serena Williams AI, AI Serena Williams plays self, tennis training AI, sports analytics, AI in athletic training, AKQA Melbourne