This trail was done by ICC in partnership with GoBubble
New Delhi:
The ICC has successfully completed an AI-powered social media moderation trial to stamp out abuse in the women’s game as it revealed nearly one in five comments made on player or team accounts were malicious or auto-generated. .
The test was conducted during the T20 Women’s World Cup in the UAE in October to “protect the cricket community from toxic content” and create a safe and inclusive online environment for players and fans.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) partnered with tech company Gobble to use an artificial intelligence tool to tackle online abuse targeting women players.
According to a report in ‘ESPNCricinfo’, out of 1,495,149 social media comments monitored on 60 player and eight team accounts, around 271,100 contained racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of abuse.
The ICC’s head of digital, Finn Bradshaw, commented that the test was needed to promote a safer online space for female athletes, whose growing popularity has put them at risk of harassment.
“The last thing you want is a teenage girl who has some talent and ability and then she sees what’s going on with one of her heroes on social media and thinks, ‘I can’t deal with that,'” Bradshaw said. Report.
“We know that mental health is a big issue around the world and social media can be terrible for mental health and so anything we can do to make a girl’s decision to play cricket easier, we want to do that.” “One of the objectives of the ICC is to look at ways in which we can inspire as many women and girls to play cricket as possible,” he added.
The AI tool allows players to filter not only offensive words but also personal attacks for each person, ensuring a supportive environment.
South Africa keeper-batter Sinalo Jafta, who has experienced severe online abuse, now gets support through an AI tool.
Before, she relied on family members to remove abusive comments, but with automated moderation, she hopes players will feel more comfortable sharing content.
“For me that security is huge because athletes get to share their lives with the world without fear of judgment or criticism,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the changes, people are just free and players can show the world who they really are.” Female cricketers can sign up for the service until the end of 2025, and a report will soon assess the possibility of extending it to male players.
“We wanted to do a test and see how it goes, and we’ll prepare a report,” Bradshaw said.
“Then we’ll see if there’s a demand for it from male players.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)