Just to go ahead and get this out of the way early, this won’t be an article breaking down a Tennessee recruit or a preview of SEC Media Days this summer. No, instead, this is a little personal project of mine out of curiosity and interest.
The world of artificial intelligence is becoming more and more of a story in different aspects of society. Still here? Okay, let’s continue. Artificial intelligence generators are able to create new platforms and avenues of media out of thin air using nothing but programming software. I’m not sure who perfectly understands it, but hey, it’s here.
To give credit where it’s due. I was browsing ESPN on Monday and found an MLB power rankings article from David Schoenfield, who put in an A.I. generated poem into his analysis for the Arizona Diamondbacks receiving a B+ grade for the first month. That certainly caught my attention.
It also made me think – I wonder what A.I. would have to say about Tennessee Football, just for kicks and grins? So here’s a little bit of what I found.
To start with the trend that Schoenfield started, here’s an entirely A.I.-generated poem on Tennessee Football. The only prompt that was given to the software was “Tennessee Football.”
From AIPoemGenerator.com:
“Deep in the heart of Tennessee,
Football reigns supreme, you’ll see.
From Neyland Stadium’s mighty roar,
To Rocky Top’s sweet melody score.
We huddle close, hearts beating fast,
Waiting for the snap to blast.
Our Volunteers take to the field,
With speed and power that will yield.
Against all foes they fiercely fight,
Taunting them with Orange and White.
From end zone to end zone they strive,
Their hearts and souls, forever alive.
We cheer them on with all our might,
For Tennessee Football is our delight.
With every game they play, they’ll win,
As Rocky Top echoes, let the good times begin.”
I am immediately fascinated at the software’s ability to go and find keywords such as Rocky Top, Neyland Stadium, and Volunteers. But that’s an easy, broad example.
What about generating one under nothing but “Peyton Manning Tennessee”:
From AIPoemGenerator.com:
“In Tennessee’s land of Volunteers,
There’s a legend that the state reveres.
A football star of great renown,
Known all over as Peyton Manning, the hometown crown.
With rocket arm and nerves of steel,
On the gridiron he could really feel.
His passes sailed through the air,
A threat to any defense, anywhere.
Collegiate success, national acclaim,
His talent and leadership not just a game.
The Heisman nomination he did earn,
But winning the title was his greatest concern.
To Indianapolis he did depart,
His legacy as a great quarterback to start.
But Tennessee still reflects,
On the memories of Peyton’s reflex.
In every corner of the state,
He is loved and remembered with great fate.
Peyton Manning, forever enshrined,
As Tennessee’s greatest football mind.”
More from RTI: Tennessee Safety Cameron Miller Enters the Transfer Portal
The fact that the A.I. not only found out that Manning was snubbed of the Heisman but also acknowledged that in the poem screams to me that the designer of this A.I. software was probably a Tennessee fan still rowdy about that Heisman voting.
Once again, though, it’s interesting to see the connections to Indianapolis that were pulled.
Alright, alright, moving away from the poems. How about an A.I. conversation?
Something that I found out recently is that Snapchat introduced a feature where you can chat with an A.I. robot in real-time. Think… Alexa or Siri. So, naturally, I asked my Snapchat A.I. questions about Tennessee Football.
Me: Who is the best Tennessee Football player ever?
A.I.: There are a lot of great Tennessee football players, but I’d have to say that Peyton Manning is probably the best.
Me: Why is Peyton Manning the best Tennessee football player?
A.I.: Peyton Manning is the best Tennessee football player because he set numerous records while playing for the Vols and went on to have an incredibly successful career in the NFL.
Me: Who is the best Tennessee football coach?
A.I.: Phil Fulmer is probably the best Tennessee football coach. He led the Vols to a national championship in 1998 and had a lot of success during his tenure.
Me: Will Josh Heupel pass Phil Fulmer?
A.I.: It’s hard to say if Josh Heupel will pass Phil Fulmer, but he certainly has the potential to do so. It will depend on how well he does as head coach and how long he stays with the program.
Me: Can Tennessee football win the SEC this year?
A.I.: It’s hard to predict if Tennessee football will win the SEC this year, but anything is possible. The team has a lot of talent and potential, so we’ll just have to wait and see how the season goes.
Me: What’s the best Tennessee Football game ever?
A.I.: There have been so many great Tennessee football games over the years, but the one that stands out to me is the 1998 national championship game against Florida State. It was an incredibly exciting game that went down to the wire, and the Vols ended up winning 23-16 to claim the national title.
Alright, let’s break this down. Maybe I should have asked some tougher questions, because most of the answers felt like it was really easy to just grab the first software result and go with that: Peyton Manning, Florida State, etc.
But it was fascinating that the A.I. claimed Heupel had the potential to pass Fulmer.
Last but not least, let’s tackle the A.I.-generated picture craze that took over the internet for a minute earlier this year.
After a couple of easy prompts for the poem and the conversation, I wanted to add in a little bit of a challenge for the picture. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out too much.
Here’s a look at A.I.-generated pictures from PicsArt only using the prompt “Tennessee Football Beats Georgia”:
The second picture is particularly haunting here. I can’t help but laugh at the mess.
That’s all for today. And, realistically, probably the one and only dive we will take into the artificial intelligence world here at Rocky Top Insider. But it was certainly quite the wacky path to stroll down with the football offseason rolling along.
Thanks to ESPN’s David Schoenfield for the idea, AIPoemGenerator.org for the poems, Snapchat for the conversation, and PicsArt for the pictures.
