00:00Is that soccer star Harry Kane receiving the Ballon d'Or?
00:03Or is it his AI clone in a fabricated clip?
00:06That would have sounded like a silly question a few years ago, but now it's legit.
00:11Footballers are already licensing digital doppelgangers of themselves.
00:14What for? How does it work? And what does it mean for you?
00:18To clarify, the clip you just saw is real footage.
00:22Harry Kane was named the world's best soccer player this week.
00:25But this clip of him handing the trophy to a young student is AI generated.
00:29Thank you for keeping going.
00:31Convincing AI videos are easy to make these days.
00:34Which some companies and athletes are looking to cash in on.
00:37Like Calendar, a US sports tech company that sells what they call synthetic twins.
00:42Think of them like digital doubles.
00:43One of their latest clients is Christian Volpato, an attacking player on Italy's Sassuolo team.
00:48He gave Calendar exclusive rights to his digital likeness.
00:51That means his voice, biometric profiles and performance data.
00:55In short, the raw material an AI needs to copy how he looks, sounds and plays.
01:00What's in it for Volpato?
01:03First, money. Potentially.
01:05Endorsements are a huge income stream for athletes.
01:08Some of the most famous ones sign multi-million dollar deals.
01:12Take Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for example.
01:15Both scored lifetime partnerships with sports brands, which some estimate are worth 1 billion dollars each.
01:20For athletes that are not that famous, endorsements are still crucial, since their careers have a very limited timeline.
01:27But athletes need to eat, sleep and train.
01:30Calendar's synthetic twins can work 24-7.
01:32And rich markets the real players can't.
01:34They can help sell products in languages that the athletes don't speak.
01:38Brazilian soccer star Neymar, for example, licensed his digital likeness to a Chinese company for a micro drama series earlier
01:45this year.
01:45In time, Calendar even hopes that AI clones could be in touch directly with fans, by giving interactive coaching tips
01:52via smartphone for example.
01:54And all of that while the players themselves concentrate on perfecting their game.
01:58Second, protection.
01:59Players' likenesses are often used for AI-generated content without their consent, by betting sites, broadcasters or smaller brands.
02:06Legal protections are currently weak.
02:09Copyright usually requires a human author, so the laws don't clearly cover AI reproductions.
02:13There's also the risk of harmful AI content circulating online that could damage an athlete's reputation.
02:19Calendar says it will police those abuses for its clients.
02:22How is a digital twin made and sold?
02:25Calendar doesn't publish their full methods, but in broad terms it works something like this.
02:30The company obtains exclusive rights to photos, videos, voice recordings, movement and in Vopato's case also match data.
02:38AI models train on that material to reproduce how an athlete looks, sounds and moves.
02:42Some video generators can create lookalikes from a single photo, but to make truly convincing clips you need lots more
02:49data.
02:50The business model is straightforward.
02:51Calendar pitches AI clones to brands, athletes approve the campaign and Calendar takes a cut.
02:57In case you're wondering, yes, players have been selling their digital appearances for years.
03:01Most prominently computer games like FIFA, but also to FIFA itself.
03:05But Calendar wants to offer a one-stop shop for everything regarding an athlete's digital clone.
03:11Sounds convenient, but it's all still early days.
03:13Calendar's campaigns are pilot projects and no one knows whether brands will actually pay for clones instead of real athletes
03:19yet.
03:20And that's not the only unknown factor in the company's success.
03:24First, who's really talking to you when Vopato's twin sells you a watch?
03:28The athlete, the company that owns the twin, or the brand?
03:31That's important, because what if an application using a celebrity's likeness makes a mistake?
03:36Like discussing sensitive topics like religion or drugs?
03:40In the end, the athlete's name is on the line.
03:42AI content is increasingly hard to distinguish from real footage, especially on small smartphone screens.
03:48And second, what about the general authenticity problem that often comes with AI content?
03:52Think back to Harry Kane. His Ballon d'or moment moved people because it was unmistakably real.
03:58Sincerity, integrity, rawness. That's what people love about sports.
04:02And professional sports are banking on human emotion.
04:05An AI double can mimic someone's face or voice, but it can't replicate moments like these.
04:10And if you ask me, if AI clones should really become commonplace, they could damage whatever authenticity remains in professional
04:17sports.
04:18What do you think of celebrity AI clones?
04:20Would you like to chat with an AI version of your favorite star?
04:24Or do you think we're already drowning in too much AI slop?
04:27Let us know in the comments.
