AI or Artificial Intelligence is a technology that is steadily becoming a vital part of our lives. From enhancing our healthcare system to transforming the sports Industry for good, AI is expanding its horizon by all leaps and bounds and promises to be an asset for the future.
Take an example of the sports industry alone. Today, this
computer-based intelligence is so weaved into the sports industry that it is being applied in virtually every aspect of the game. From pre, post, and mid-game analysis to judge the players’ performance, the use of Artificial Intelligence is becoming an imminent factor even in the transfer windows around the world sports.
Hence, to shed more light on how AI is transforming sports for good, here’s our detailed take on it.
Take a look at how Artificial Intelligence is playing a huge role in transforming sports today – all with the help of some examples.
1. Enhancements in Recruiting the Players
Transfer window in club sports creates an immense amount of buzz around the world every time it reopens. This is a time when some players switch their clubs and begin playing for their new clubs by signing a contract. There’s a huge amount of money involved between NBA and Football clubs, especially when players switch over.
However, picking the right player in the transfer window isn’t easy. The performance data of a player is particularly analyzed to understand whether he/she would be a success at the club or not. While it seems considerably fair to analyze this data, it can at times contain certain loopholes and fail to provide the exact picture about a player.
Hence, comes the role of Artificial Intelligence. With the help of AI, football clubs, for instance, can analyze all the historical data of a player to come up with a conclusion of whether or not to sign him/her. As impossible as it seems, the integration of AI into sports has made it possible and given that assurance to clubs whenever they invest their money on a player.
2. The Role of AI in Coaching
Not only is Artificial Intelligence transforming transfers in sports, but it is also enhancing the coaching regimes of sporting clubs around the world. Today, thanks to AI, coaches can analyze the areas where particular players or the whole team needs improvement. The same can be done in the case of opponent teams as well.
Nowadays, with the help of AI, teams prepare themselves to counter opponents in certain areas where they lag behind. Likewise, the coaches too can analyze the areas where they themselves need to improve. This is leading to a shift in course as more and more teams are now moving away from traditional methods of coaching and preparing for games.
3. Personalization of Fan’s Experiences
Fans play a massive role in running the game today, and keeping them satisfied is one of the key things for a sporting club to do. Thanks to AI, fans can get their personalized queries answered with the help of an AI-powered chatbot that takes care of every question a fan throws at the club. These questions generally arrive on the club website and app which can be easily answered for the fans.
An enhancement that is set to take fan engagement to a new level, AI chatbots in sports apps has truly brought a revolution in sports app development today. Developers are now looking at this as potential access to fan engagement and the success of their app. Moreover, with the help of AI, fans can get to see the highlights of a game personalized according to them. This is all possible due to algorithms that can customize the experience as per different demands.
4. The Emergence of Automated Journalism in Sports
A truly revolutionary term in the world of journalism, AJ, or Automated Journalism is a process where a computer automatically produces a story or a news article to publish rather than a human reporter doing it. This happens with the help of Artificial Intelligence and is set to transform the way news and other stories are reported from the world of sports.
Take an example of the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) for instance. The Associated Press has recently begun working with an AI firm to expand the media coverage and reporting of Minor League Baseball. By working in collaboration with the startup, it has come up with a platform called Wordsmith that converts all the MiLB games and data into stories and narratives using the natural language.
Not only this, but the platform Wordsmith is also capable of covering 13 different leagues and teams with a staggering 1.5 billion stories created annually. The platform has helped the Association Press to increase their quarterly earnings by almost 12 times compared to their manual efforts.
5. Marketing in Sports
Marketing today plays a major role in sports as it maximizes the ROI generated from a league. While leagues and teams lay immense emphasis on campaigns through multiple means and tricks, the role of AI increases a whole lot more. This is a technology that helps in analyzing the consumer data and success of a campaign so that the necessary changes or customizations are made in getting the maximum value out of a campaign.
6. The Use of AI for Safety
NASCAR, one of the most popular high-speed sports in the US, is also one of the most dangerous when it comes to the safety of drivers. In fact, NASCAR has experienced more than one death annually since the year 1950. So the demand for safety solutions is paramount in this sport.
With the help of AI, NASCAR teams can employ deep learning to create self-drive cars that are capable of identifying other cars with malfunction issues much earlier than any potential disaster, eventually ensuring the safety of drivers.
The sports industry has gained immense popularity over the years. From the emergence of esports to enhancements in real-life sporting leagues, technology today has immense opportunities for making enhancements in the sports industry and AI is at the helm of it. The above-discussed points portray how technology is transforming the Sporting world for good.
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