The Machine That Looks Back

What happens when infrastructure starts making decisions for us.

I’ll be at IBC in Amsterdam (Sept 12–15), talking with media and tech leaders about where AI fits in the creative stack.

I expect sports to lead the innovation curve, with AI already embedded in everything from real-time graphics and highlight feeds to localization, overlays, and 5G-powered workflows. These aren’t experiments, they’re operational.

This is a continuation of the series I’ve been writing, which I have started thinking of as a field guide to the defaults already shaping how stories are made, remembered, and monetized. It’s not a forecast, a system-level view of what’s already live. If you’ve already felt the shift, this one’s for you.

Where the Machine Shows Up First

If you want to see the future of media infrastructure, go to a stadium.

AI-powered replays now cut live across 18 holes of a PGA TOUR broadcast with drones capturing real-time ball flights and augmented visuals stitched into the feed. At the Paris Olympics, computer vision overlays for swimming and fencing worked in real time, combining automotive lane-tracing algorithms with editorial controls. The Winter University Games ran 5G-powered production across alpine slopes and indoor arenas with automated scene recognition, uplink optimization, and AR graphics built into the core pipeline.

These aren’t experiments. They’re systems. Quietly deployed. Already shaping how fans experience live events. Live sports may be the most visible frontier for AI in media not just because of what it can automate, but because of what it can enhance: presence, clarity, immersion, scale.

And once you notice it on the field, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.