Refereeing of the FUTURE
By: Aidan K.
Have you ever had someone tell you something that you didn't agree with? This is a big problem in sports. This is because referees resort to human error, but artificial intelligence can help with that!
In the fourth quarter of the NFL’s AFC championship game, Odel Beckham Jr was being held in the endzone with an attempt to tie the game, but no flag was called. If the flag was called it could have given the Baltimore Ravens new life, and it could have possibly won them the game.
In 2022 there were more than 41,000 plays; that means there was about an average of 153 plays per game! An NFL official works about 14 RSG (regular season games), and they are accurate about 98.9% of the time. That means that there are 451 missed or bad calls. So that 1.1 percent could be momentous.
Artificial intelligence, or better known as AI, has taken the internet by storm these past couple years, but it hasn't been implemented in sports. AI has only been applied to a handful of sports like water diving and AAA baseball, but the major Sports leagues like the NBA, MLB, NFL, and the NHL still haven't utilized it, but they are trying to incorporate it.
AI would be advantageous in many different sports, and in many different ways, and it could change the way we look at refereeing. In the NFL AI could be used to see if a player was offsides or to check if a quarterback hit the ground before he threw the ball; they could also check if a team got a first down or they were short. In the NBA AI could use motion tracking to check if a player was goaltending, or to see if a player was fouled. FIFA would use goal line tech to see if someone was offsides and to call it faster.
Referees need help if they want all calls to be accurate. If you ever think that a referee made a bad call, just know that it could be solved with AI. With AI, sports games could be a whole lot more enjoyable for everyone.
I completely agree with what you’re claim. Bad calls can be really annoying and can even cost a team their game. Which is why I completely agree with your opinion that AI could revolutionize sports and can make the game more enjoyable. “AI would be advantageous in many different sports, and in many different ways, and it could change the way we look at refereeing.” That sentence made it really clear that you think AI would be a good thing if it is ever implemented into sports. Also, this sentence, “An NFL official works about 14 RSG (regular season games), and they are accurate about 98.9% of the time. That means that there are 451 missed or bad calls. So that 1.1 percent could be momentous.” Made it clear why AI would be a phenomenal idea in sports.
ReplyDeleteAidan, in your editorial you said how adding AI to sports will make everything more accurate, and I agree with your opinion because of the thing that you said at the second to last paragraph about the NFL quarterbacks hitting the ground before or after they throw the ball. A lot of the close calls have been called wrong and I think this AI system will be awesome for double checking, and not just in football, soccer and basketball could have a lot of benefits too, not to mention baseball.
ReplyDeleteAidan your opinion in the story is that AI should be used in sports instead of referees and that it would be more fair if refs were replaced by AI. I agree with you, I think that a lot of mistakes or miscalls wouldn't happen if AI replaced referees. I agree with you because you point out numerous times that refs have messed up. For example you stated, “That means that there are 451 missed or bad calls. So that 1.1 percent could be momentous.” This is showing that even if there is only 1.1% of bad calls that it still affects the sport drastically. Another reason I agree with you is because it is frustrating as a softball player to have a strike be called on you that is clearly a ball.
ReplyDeleteFrom zc23:
ReplyDeleteYour opinion is that you would rather have an AI ( artificial intelligence) as your referee than a real human referee. I disagree with this. Referees are trained to make calls whether they like the team or not, having an AI would be hard because sources say that AI is more likely to make a mistake than humans are. There is not 100% guarantee that AI will make the right call. While it feels refs are sabotaging and out to get you, their main concern is safety. AI is less likely to pick up when a game is unsafe, a play is unsafe, or even if there are players playing dirty ( purposely hurting the opposing team). While you talk about ABS ( Automatic Ball Strike), I think AI could be used in baseball or softball. As in, the AI can tell if it's a strike or a ball. Meanwhile there could also be another ump there at the game determining everything else. As AI is evolving I think in the long term.. There could be a chance AI is used in some sports, however as of right now AI is not 100% accurate. You do have an amazing idea that is definitely debatable. Awesome Job!!!