How Sports Sector Utilizes AI Technologies

AI-based predictive analysis can be used to improve health and fitness in sports. Additionally, wearable apps can provide information about the wear and strain on players, hence reducing damage

FREMONT, CA: Although technology and science have always impacted the world of sports, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics have accelerated these trends in recent years, affecting this industry faster than Usain Bolt's legs stronger than Mike Tyson's punches. Modern technologies play a critical role across the sports life cycle, from player recruiting and training to performance analysis, from audience experience to media and management. According to PwC, AI embraces all facets of sports, whether as a competitive or entertaining activity or as part of show business. AI-powered tools are already being used in practically all major sports disciplines, including American football, soccer, baseball, cricket, and non-professional leisure activities such as grassroots sports.

Below are some application areas that are most closely tied to sports' competitive and joyful nature:

Recruiting: AI can have an immediate impact on an athlete's career. It can evaluate past data on players' performance to forecast their potential and market value before a sports club invests in them.

This can also benefit athletes since the deployment of AI-based techniques significantly decreases bias during recruiting and enables the discovery of latent talent even in nations where a particular sport is not widely practiced.

Coaching: Performance analysis and forecast modeling may have an even greater impact when it comes to establishing training programs for athletes and playing tactics. It is feasible to acquire a wealth of data with wearable sensors and AI-powered cameras—passes, goals scored, rebounds, movement speeds, ball trajectories, shot accuracy, etc.

This data will be analyzed by machine learning (ML)-based tools to provide coaches with actionable insights. Simultaneously, ML may be utilized to identify opponents' playing styles and determine their strengths and weaknesses.

Healthcare: Medical diagnostics also benefit from AI's analytical and predictive skills. Health is a critical component in determining an athlete's performance and well-being. AI-powered systems can monitor various physical factors, including players' motions, assess their health, and potentially detect injuries or health concerns before the athlete is aware of them.

While data collection via various sensors is critical for data analytics in healthcare, the absolute protagonists, owing to their portability and decreasing costs, are health wearables.

These characteristics contribute to their increasing popularity, not just among professional athletes but also among amateurs.

Virtual assistants that act as referees: AI may soon rob sports fans of their greatest pastime, which is grumbling about referee decisions. For years, football has used virtual assistance referees to deliver slow-motion highlights to real umpires, albeit at the cost of slowing down the game. Fortunately, new algorithms are tackling this issue by enhancing the speed and accuracy of virtual assistant referees detecting game fouls.

FIFA has used similar systems to detect offsides, while the World Gymnastics Championships profited from Fujitsu-developed AI-powered laser sensors capable of assessing athletes' motions with pinpoint accuracy.