Google partners with HBCU to advance AI sports reporting

BALTIMORE — Thanks to a $100,000 contribution from Google, Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication (SGJC) has partnered with JRSportBrief Productions to advance sports coverage and news reporting through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This innovative research and development effort will explore how AI can streamline and bring greater efficiencies to traditional sports journalism by creating automated post-game content such as box scores and video news reports. The research and performance testing of the AI-based enhancements will be conducted jointly by way of a unique interdisciplinary effort between SGJC’s Center for the Study of Race and Culture in Sports and the HBCU’s Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems (CEAMLS). JRSportBrief Productions, whose SportBrief AI Solutions provide a central component to the research being conducted, was also instrumental in facilitating Google’s support of the project.

The project will be overseen and led by SGJC Professor of Practice Edward Robinson III, who also directs the Center for the Study of Race and Culture in Sports, and Ganiyu-Adewumi, a graduate student mentor.

“We are looking forward to beginning our work with CEAMLS and JRSportBrief Productions on this groundbreaking project,” said Robinson. “This collaboration not only underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and excellence in our students but also highlights the potential of AI to transform the sports media landscape.”

HBCU Students from the Center and CEAMLS are leveraging JRSportBrief Production’s SportBrief AI Solutions to generate comprehensive pre- and postgame wrap-ups in audio and video formats and test their work. The effort began as a component of CEAMLS’s Summer AI Research Institute. Students working on the 10-week project will produce a literature review and a prototype of the AI tool, integrating computer technology and sports journalism standards and ethics. Through participation in the project, students will gain invaluable practical experience while attempting to shape the future of sports media.

“This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to combine academics with real-life industry expertise in a fast-moving space like AI,” said J.R. Jackson, founder of JRSportBrief Productions. “By joining forces with Morgan State University, we aim to empower the next generation of AI innovators while delivering unparalleled sports coverage to audiences.”

The completed project, which fuses technology, education, and creativity, will provide sports fans with an innovative way to digest content.

“Google is proud to enable this creative collaboration,” said William Floyd, senior director of State Government Affairs and Public Policy. “This partnership between Morgan State University and JRSportBrief is a great example of how academia and entrepreneurs can come together to explore real-world use cases for how AI can be accessed by anyone to unlock the potential of this powerful tool while  training the young minds of tomorrow.” 

Morgan’s School of Global Journalism and Communication created the Center for the Study of Race and Culture in Sports in 2017. In addition to research projects in various aspects of sports, the Center provides specific training for HBCU students interested in sports journalism, sports production, and sports strategic communication and prepares them to operate as professionals equipped with the requisite reporting, writing, and multimedia skills to immediately enter the workforce and compete. Fully accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), SGJC is dedicated to giving voice to people who struggle to contribute to the public discourse that shapes the nation and the world through innovative teaching, cutting-edge research and exemplary service to Maryland, the nation and the world. 

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