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French Open Tennis Tournament Used AI to Reduce Online Abuse Targeted at Players

The tool was made available to the players at this year’s tournament in an effort to reduce undue stress levels for all participants. If you are affected by anything touched on within this article, follow the links to our various support services or click on the blue logo icon at the bottom right of the screen to start using Cybersmile Assistant, our smart AI support assistant.

Players at this year’s French Open were given access to a new AI-driven tool designed to protect them from online abuse and harassment on social media. The innovative software, developed by a French tech company, is designed to filter out abusive comments on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and X, and also has the capability to identify and filter out racism, homophobia and other forms of hate-speech.

The tool was made available to the players at this year’s tournament in an effort to reduce undue stress levels for all participants. The aim was to try and protect the mental health of both the players and their personal entourages from hateful or aggressive comments on social media during the competition.

Speaking before the event about the importance of prioritizing players’ mental health and the positive impact organizers hope the new tool will have on them, French Open director Amelie Mauresmo commented that, “It’s great for the mental well-being of the players. It clears the mind and will help everyone have a little more freedom on the court. I can’t wait to see how the players react to it.”

Ahead of the event, a spokesperson from the French Tennis Federation (FFT) detailed how the tool would work, stating that, “It is an AI that performs moderation in real time. The comment is analyzed in less than 200 milliseconds. A team of linguists creates word patterns that enable the system to be updated in real time according to what is posted on social media, in order to generate a more contextual analysis.” The Federation also assured players in advance that care would be taken about what is censored.

FFT director Caroline Flaissier added – “We will not accept any form of violence at our tournament. We’re very proud to be the first Grand Slam tournament to offer players a solution that efficiently protects them against cyberbullying. We want to protect players from this damaging behavior, to enable them to be in peak mental condition when they compete in the tournament.”

The FFT indicated that the technology would be used to protect all official FFT and Roland Garros (French Open) social media accounts as well as those of players who opt for it for the duration of the Grand Slam and at least a week after the tournament has ended.

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