By: Yiran Liu
Sloane Stephens, an American tennis star athlete, proclaims that the flood of critical and hateful comments online will never end. “My entire career, it’s never stopped. If anything, it’s only gotten worse,” she said at the French Open in Paris. She doesn’t like judgments made about her because of her race. She tries to block the offenses on social media by using keywords, but people just rephrase their message. Because social media can be harsh towards players like her, tournament organizers offer players a tool that uses AI(artificial intelligence) to prevent abuse.
Bodyguard.ai is an AI company from France that is made for athlete protection. The technology is more advanced than the keyword filters Stephens is using. The AI can check who a message is directed to and understand the definition of the message. “AI is a lot more complex in the sense that it understands context,” Matthieu Boutard, Bodyguard.ai’s co-founder, told NPR, the National Public Radio. “So it’s a very different ballgame”
People who support free speech are worried because technology can block political debate. Bodyguard.ai can block critiques of a lot of politicians, to whom it is important to view criticism towards them. Boutard does not want Bodyguard.ai to be viewed in such a way. According to him, “We don’t remove criticism, what we remove is toxicity. The line is pretty clear. If you start throwing insults, being racist, attacking a player, using body-shaming, that’s not a criticism, and that’s toxic to the player.”
Despite the criticisms, top players want to see happiness back on social media without hateful comments. Iga Świątek, a Polish tennis player, praises the app. She used to check what people thought about her matches. “I stopped doing that because even when I had, I don’t know, two tournaments – one I won, the other one I was in the final – I went on social media, and people were unhappy,” Świątek said. “I realized that there’s no sense to read all that stuff. So the app, I think it’s a great idea.” Now, Świątek hopes that joy can return to social media.
The app, Bodyguard.ai helps a lot of people get past rudeness on social media. Star athletes use it now to avoid racism and other harmful comments. Overall, this AI tool is very helpful and can help suppress hate.