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Are AI referees ruining sports? Or making them better? Check out Storyblocks and sign up here for great footage: Subscribe to support optimistic tech content: If you’re watching the 2023 US Open, you’re seeing automated referee calls. After years of controversy about human accuracy, tennis has used a system called Hawkeye to not only check human calls… but now to replace human referees. And this robot ref revolution isn’t just happening in tennis. It’s taking over the sports world. Soccer, basketball, baseball, they are all using machines to improve the calls being made on the field. The World Cup in particular has invested in these tools, from VAR (video assistant referee) to semi-automated offside and goal-line technology. The stakes are high. The difference between a right or wrong call can be a championship, or millions of dollars in prizes, endorsements, ticket sales. For the most part, fans like tech that makes calls more objective. HOWEVER… there is a big chunk of sports fans who would strongly disagree, who think that robot refs are ruining the game. Thing is, this tech isn’t going back in the bottle! Stadiums are now being decked out with dozens of cameras that can track balls, people, and even use AI to make calls so accurate that one day human refs might be a thing of the past… Chapters: 00:00 How tennis started a robot ref takeover 00:50 Soccer, basketball, and baseball automating refs 01:53 High tech World Cup balls 02:17 Semi-automated offsides technology 02:58 Video assistant referee (VAR) 04:25 Why some fans HATE robot referees 05:17 Do these tools remove human nuance? 06:27 Why some fans LOVE robot referees 07:02 How Hawkeye works in tennis 07:40 NBA and MLB announcements 08:14 Why these tools are huge if true I talked about this episode with @mkbhd on the @Waveform podcast here: You can find me on TikTok here for short, fun tech explainers: @cleoabram You can find me on Instagram here for more personal stories: You can find me on Twitter here for thoughts, threads and curated news: Bio: Cleo Abram is an Emmy-nominated independent video journalist. On her show, Huge If True, Cleo explores complex technology topics with rigor and optimism, helping her audience understand the world around them and see positive futures they can help build. Before going independent, Cleo was a video producer for Vox. She wrote and directed the Coding and Diamonds episodes of Vox’s Netflix show, Explained. She produced videos for Vox’s popular YouTube channel, was the host and senior producer of Vox’s first ever daily show, Answered, and was co-host and producer of Vox’s YouTube Originals show, Glad You Asked. Additional reading and watching: - Semi-automated offside technology, FIFA: - Video assistant referee, FIFA: - The TRUTH behind Hawk Eye Accuracy, by Cult Tennis: - How the World Cup’s AI instant replay works, by Vox: - Breaking down Goal-Line Technology, by FIFA: - Automated Line Calls Will Replace Human Judges at U.S. Open, New York Times: - At the U.S. Open, line judges are out. Automated calls are in., NPR: - Hawk-Eye Innovations and MLB Introduce Next-Gen Baseball Tracking and Analytics Platform: - NBA to use Hawk-Eye tracking system to follow players and ball, ESPN: - The World Cup’s new high tech balls: - Worst line calls and umpire decisions in Tennis: Vox: IMDb: Gear I use: Camera: Sony A7SIII Lens: Sony 16–35 mm F2.8 GM and 35mm prime Audio: Sennheiser SK AVX Music: Musicbed Follow along for more episodes of Huge If True: — Welcome to the joke down low: What do you serve but never eat? … Tennis balls. Use the word “serve” in a comment to let me know you’re a real one who read to the end :)
