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AI is being used to improve player performance, enhance scouting, and predict game outcomes. With the University of Illinois at the forefront of this change, its football program is a prime example of how AI can transform the sport. As a football writer, it’s important to stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and their impact on the game, and AI is one of the most significant developments in recent years.
I have been playing with ChatGPT at work, and honestly hope to use it to bring you guys — the fans — more intuitive graphics and data analysis this summer and beyond. But to start, let's have some fun with it.
I asked ChatGPT’s artsy cousin DALL-E how it would imagine scenes at the University of Illinois.
Prompt 1: “Pictures of the quad at the University of Illinois in the year 2100.”
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I kinda like it. Never was a fan of the diagonal lines connecting the old KAMS and Daniel Street to the Chemistry Building. Now you can walk straight from the Union to Foellinger Auditorium for Econ 101. How much time were the diagonals really saving?
Altgeld is regal as usual. But one thing this image gets wrong is that it doesn’t include the new Everitt Lab or any of the buildings of the engineering quad.
Prompt 2: “A picture of Illinois volleyball playing a game at Huff Hall Volleyball Stadium in 2100.”
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Our women's volleyball team's home stadium needs a refresher and is in need of a better atmosphere to play. The skylights and open ceilings add to the already insane atmosphere.
Prompt 3: “What the University of Illinois State Farm Center will look like in the year 2100.”
In the next 75ish years Illinois moves away from the iconic spaceship that is Assembly Hall and State Farm Center. But I'm liking the glass theme that Illinois will have been going with Huff Hall and State Farm Center. The inside is just beautiful with the wintery sun beaming indoors as Illinois beats Michigan for the 400th time in a row.
And you know we'll need the extra space inside the arena — with all the seating on top of each other, the Cameron Crazies will be put to shame by the Orange Krush.
Prompt 4: “What the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium will look like in the year 2100.”
The project that has been talked about for almost a decade now actually completed by 2100. I, too, am shocked. The picture above is taken from Research Park, with Grange Grove being the green space in the bottom left corner.
Illinois finally closes up the horseshoe but leaves room for the columns in the north end zone. The sidelines stay as they are but add a lot more boxes. The south endzone adds a second deck and finally gets closer to the field. The most important improvement is the room over the student section. I would assume it just echoes back down into the field so even with 1,500 students in attendance it sounds like 15,000.
Prompt 5: “Scenes at the University of Illinois when it wins the CFP.”
Honestly, when DALL-E first made these images I got the chills. Let’s hope we don't have to wait 77 more years for these pictures to become a reality.
Bonus Prompt: “A high resolution picture of a champagne room located in Champaign, IL.”
Who wouldn’t want to go here instead of KAMS or Red Lion?
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