Kirk Herbstreit Called Out Al Michaels Over Concerns A.I. Would 'get into our brains'

Michaels lent his voice to NBC's A.I. over the summer.

Al Michaels before a Thursday Night Football game in 2023. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit called Thursday Night Football on Prime to start Week 2. Since it's so early in the year the broadcast is still getting used to all of the bells and whistles Amazon has given them to play with.

That includes a number of A.I. powered features. Early in the broadcast, Herbstreit highlighted one of those features that identifies "players of interest" who are likely to rush the quarterback. This led to a truly remarkable exchange where Herbstreit said that the A.I. would help get inside the minds of the quarterbacks.

This prompted the type of response you might expect from someone MIchaels's age.

Al Michaels is worried about AI. pic.twitter.com/Q3gT6SOscr

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) September 13, 2024

"I'm afraid A.I. is going to get into our brains," Michaels worried.

As you might have noticed, there was then a brief moment of silence before Herbstreit said, "Already got you."

This is a reference to the fact that Michaels lent his voice to NBC over the summer so that A.I. could generate "custom recaps" during the Olympics. Michaels told Vanity Fair that the technology was "astonishing" and "amazing."

We'll wait and see how the legendary broadcaster feels when Prime asks if A.I. Michaels wants to call a game. The question is, will fans be able to tell the difference?

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