NBC to use AI version of Al Michaels’ voice in Olympics recaps [Video]

NEW YORK — The days of “plausibly live” Olympics coverage on NBC are coming to an end.

The network displayed some of the new features it has planned for coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris starting on July 26 — including personalized highlights packages generated by artificial intelligence with the voice of Al Michaels and a star turn by Steven Spielberg — but none could match the sea change in attitude toward how the Games are presented.

For years, NBC has zealously guarded its prime-time Olympics telecasts no matter the time zone, aggravating fans blocked from seeing key events if they happen earlier in the day live. Attempts to essentially pretend that the events were being seen live added to frustration.

This year, NBC said Wednesday that Mike Tirico will …