The Paris Olympics has come to an end, and the Chinese team once again won five gold medals in table tennis events. "Chinese Table Tennis" has always been a prominent business card of Chinese sports. The Chinese team has repeatedly achieved great results in table tennis, leading many people to mistakenly believe that table tennis originated in China. In fact, table tennis has always been an international sport and has considerable market potential. Table tennis originated in the United Kingdom and became popular among the upper classes in Europe in the 20th century. As a sport suitable for all ages, table tennis has gradually been accepted by people in more and more countries in recent years, and the table tennis economy is also developing rapidly.

Google's table tennis robot is launched, with a winning rate of 40% against humans

The Google DeepMind team followed the Olympic trend and announced the development of a table tennis robot that can compete with human amateur players. In a preprint article published on arXiv, the DeepMind team introduced in detail this six-axis robotic arm robot, which moves flexibly on the table tennis table through bottom slide rails, showing impressive competitive skills.

Against 29 human players of varying skill levels, the robot won 13 games with a 45% win rate. Notably, all opponents were new to the robot, demonstrating the robot's strong adaptability and learning capabilities. Although it has yet to score a victory against advanced players, the robot performed well against beginners and intermediate players, winning all of its junior matches and 55% of its intermediate matches respectively.

It is reported that the DeepMind team adopted a layered and modular strategy architecture, giving the robot the ability to formulate strategies from basic forehand topspin and backhand push to advanced strategies. As the game progresses, the robot's "advanced controller" can instantly analyze the game situation, combine its own and the opponent's abilities, and work out the best skill plan. What’s even more exciting is that after the game, the robot can continuously improve itself by analyzing the battle data.

While there are some shortcomings, such as a weak backhand and a need to improve on fastballs, high-low pitches and spin balls, researchers have developed plans for improvement. They plan to further improve the performance of the robot by optimizing the control algorithm and hardware configuration, bringing it closer to the level of human players.

Many companies are deploying AI+sports

In addition to the eye-catching trophy competition on the field, the biggest attraction of this Olympics is artificial intelligence. Relying on the empowerment of AI technology, the sports industry will usher in a broader development space. According to estimates by market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global "AI + sports" market size will be approximately US$6 billion in 2024 and will grow to US$21 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 28.69%.

In today's rapidly developing digital era, the deep integration of AI and sports is becoming a new engine to promote the development of sports economy. The application of AI in athlete training helps coaches and athletes better understand training effects and competition strategies through data analysis and pattern recognition, thereby optimizing training plans and improving competitive levels. AI can also implement smart ticketing systems, live event analysis, security monitoring and other technologies, greatly improving the organizational efficiency of events and audience participation. The most important thing is that AI is constantly enriching and optimizing the way viewers watch games, improving their satisfaction and loyalty, providing sponsors and advertisers with precise market insights, thereby attracting more business investment.

Although the Olympic Games are over, the excitement will continue. Although the Paris Olympics has come to an end, the connection between humans and sports will become even closer. The Olympic spirit encourages more and more people to become more interested in fitness and life. With the deep integration of artificial intelligence and sports, sports will surely release more charm.