Should AI Work Alongside Human Referees?

[Asuspawer09]

I mean, that was an interesting topic, but for sure AI is something that we are already doing when it comes to this kind of thing. It's not totally going to be AI after a few years in to the future most of the jobs including this one is going to be AI because it's already undeniable that AI does a much better job and makes fewer mistakes compared to human referees when it comes to games, so for sure this is just a matter of time it is going to happen in the future.

When it comes to these kinds of things, most of the time it would probably going to depend on good devices like high-speed cameras and different angles, to make a good judgment or call by the referees. I mean, unless AI have that as well, they are not going to be reliable if they don't have good hardware. I guess AI is just more of a decision maker here, but with good devices for sure human can do the job without any issues. On some sports we can see some high end cameras or sensors could accurately see if it was a fault or not.

[Mr_Brilliant$]

I don't think a full replacement will happen, since a human will still have to double-check what the AI decides. But if AI ever gets independent enough to do this job on its own, the real question is what will be going on with humanity by then  

If AI needs to work alongside humans then double checking every AI decisions makes AI looks like jr doesn't know what it is doing. True AI isn't always correct. But cross checking all AI decisions might even make the game slower. The best thing to do her is finding the perfect balance. When to check and when not to check. Just like they do VAR sometimes.
But they can do it like this to make the right balance. Let's say some part that is strenuous to do, the AI can do that. Only some little cases that you cross check it, but not all the time. While the once that requires little to no human effort, the humans runs that.

[Franctoshi]

That is already been implemented in the Premier League, but they are not replacing human referees with AI, I mean how would it work, the AI's job is just to review and ensure that the calls are right.

No matter what I don't think human referees will be replaced in the future because when the game calls are too accurate it will make the game boring, refs are there sometimes to influence the game and make it interesting.

For example this is just my theory in a best-of-7 NBA Finals series, a team that is too dominant could sweep their opponent which would not benefit the league, they want to extend the series so they can make more money, so no way they will put AI to do the officiating, as an assistant possibly but not as the main referee.

At first, it's looking like thes AI robots are helping us today, but in the long run this is likely going to create chaos because humans are beginning to give too much power to this technology that's, it will literally take every aspect of humans job. What's the essence of allowing them to penatrate every job? is it to make humans lazy or humans are no longer to be trusted. I'm not against AI, but I'm against giving it to much power, not everything that they should introduce AI, with the way things are going, the world will elect them rule over humans someday if we're finding them so perfect, it may look like a fiction story today but we're not too far away from it, seeing how rapidly the technology is advancing.

[mak013]

I've been watching local volleyball and there's a scenario where the a referee made a wrong call. It got me thinking, now that AI is everywhere, is it possible for AI to replace human referees to reduce bias and avoid questionable or wrong calls? For regular fans, it's frustrating to see a questionable calls but for most bettors, one wrong call could mean losing money.

If I am not mistaken, AI are already beting used in some sports such as tennis for line calls and football for offside decisions withe the help of VAR. Right now, I realized that replacing a human referees are not completely possible. Instead, AI could work alongside them. For instance, calling a foul in basketball or other contact sports, giving penalty due to the behaviour of the player, etc. requires human judgement and AI alone won't be able to determine something like that.

So my questions is, if AI could reduce incorrect calls and make decision more consistent, wouldn't that make sports betting and the sports itself fairer? What you guys think?

The first thing we need is the right rules - rules that give a single correct answer in every situation. If any contact with the leg is always a foul, AI can call all those situations. But when contact with the leg is sometimes “permissible contact,” AI will let it go.
For now, AI can be used to detect offsides and draw nice offside lines.

[I_Anime]

As you have already said, AI assistant is already been use to assist the referee in football and in most sport, but replacing humans is what I disagree with because it can be easily gamed or cheated, since such machine is programmed in a certain way.

One thing we humans are very good at is to game any system that is programmed, so it would be a very bad idea to be officiating a game that is an emotional game with something that has no emotions or psychological thinking, the results wouldn't ends well.

There will always be human error . That doesn’t mean that ai can’t also make mistakes too , yeah is quite common that sometimes , some referees can be bias . There where time we had friendly match then , with just some local club playing and stuff . The referees was just being too bias to a point that it was so obvious like he was bribed or something but the solution is not to replace human referees with Ai both can literally work together to be more effective .

[Yablee0]

At first, it's looking like thes AI robots are helping us today, but in the long run this is likely going to create chaos because humans are beginning to give too much power to this technology that's, it will literally take every aspect of humans job. What's the essence of allowing them to penatrate every job? is it to make humans lazy or humans are no longer to be trusted. I'm not against AI, but I'm against giving it to much power, not everything that they should introduce AI, with the way things are going, the world will elect them rule over humans someday if we're finding them so perfect, it may look like a fiction story today but we're not too far away from it, seeing how rapidly the technology is advancing.

I think I was the only person seeing things from this angle of yours, but I didn't know we were both sharing the same view. However, the wild spread of Ai accross various jobs that was supposed to be done by humans is something that is worth concerning. Because Just as you said above, its Seems to be super helpful as we speak due to how fast and accurate it does our jobs but in time to come AI is going to completely take away every single jobs that was supposed to be meant for humans. And when that happens, I wonder what we becomes of us as humans.

[Unsoldier]

AI can make refereeing more accurate, especially in controversial situations. These technologies have already proven useful in tennis and football. In football, AI helps detect offsides using camera data, but the final decision still rests with the officials. So, in my opinion, the best approach is to use AI to assist referees rather than replace them.
AI can make things more objective, yet debates over refereeing are unlikely to disappear completely. Just look at football discussions online — there's still plenty of disagreement over decisions made with the help of AI.

[ejikeme24]

As you have already said, AI assistant is already been use to assist the referee in football and in most sport, but replacing humans is what I disagree with because it can be easily gamed or cheated, since such machine is programmed in a certain way.

One thing we humans are very good at is to game any system that is programmed, so it would be a very bad idea to be officiating a game that is an emotional game with something that has no emotions or psychological thinking, the results wouldn't ends well.

You're right AI assistant is already been used to assist the referee in football, for example; in football AI helps to detect offside and areas that seem very technical. So there's no need of asking whether AI should work alongside human referees as they are already making use of AI, I could remember those days when referees are the ones to take decisions without even taking a proper look of what happened. But ever since they brought this VAR things was much more better than when the referees were making decisions without consulting any source.

[Franklyn-wood]

I think we all forget how the phrase is always written at the buttom of the screen of your phone. It says AI makes mistakes, please verify. Even with that we tend to trust AI so much that we do not verify. That aside.

If it is later implemented to be used alongside referees, it means we will still need to cross references with the referee too to come with a solid decision when needed.

You are very correct with your point. We need to understand that AI also have there limitations and shortcoming, they can only respond to the information they are encoded or programed for, and needs close monitoring to make sure they are giving out the accurate results to fulfill the purpose they are ment to serve. AI are gradually taking over from humas today making it looks like we are no longer capable of doing some of the things we have been handling good enough as we should.
AI needs humans to control them even when they have been encoded to serve in divers ways and fields help humans reduce there load work.

[moneystery]

I think that today's sports should use AI, but not to replace the role of referees, it's more about providing more accurate analysis and helping referees make fairer decisions. After all, the role of a referee can't be replaced by a tool that lacks human judgment. But with the capabilities AI has, it can analyze situations thoroughly, detect smaller details, and provide analysis that can help referees make better decisions.
However, implementing AI can be more complicated and requires costs to support the various equipment needed to support its functions. This can be a challenge for smaller leagues with limited budgets. Therefore, this might be worth considering for leagues with more sufficient budgets and resources.

[Rabata]

Technology is used with referees on the field of play, but current AI technology is much more efficient, so they can provide more accurate results. But I cannot rely on the use of AI alone instead of a human referee. If there is an AI with a human referee on the field, it is possible to conduct the game correctly. In many games, there is a strong reaction among the spectators due to the wrong decision of the referee. At that time, if the result of a team changes due to a wrong decision, then the general spectators will definitely not accept that game well. Now if AI technology is used there, then any problem in that game will be quickly detected, which the referee will be able to understand easily. Many times it is difficult for a referee to take some decisions, but using AI technology, it becomes much easier to take those difficult decisions.

[Fiasem20]

Referees are humans and humans are bound to make mistakes,so in your opinion you’re actually pointing out what may be crucial in sport betting because a referee’s bias judgement could lead to a bettor’s loss.AI cannot completely eliminate the errors that’s why humans cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence in the sport betting sector and even beyond.So the use of artificial intelligence is just to assist humans to make their decisions more fairer and accurate just like the essence of the VAR that has been an assistant to the official to confirm if a match was fairly played by both teams through a review video footage.No doubt artificial intelligence has been helpful over the years but they’re not meant to rule or replace humans.

[abel1337]

An AI becoming a assistant referee is much plausible rather than replacing the human referees. AI needs a lot of cameras to function properly and to judge if there's a violation and currently big tournaments are equipped with that, so yes it can be implemented sooner or later. I'm pretty much sure that organizations are thinking about it and is thinking about it. Though the cost of this would be high especially as it requires multiple camera on different angles, the bigger the event stage, the more camera is needed.

I'm seeing a future that an AI assistant will help flag potential violations and the human referee will still call the final verdict.

[M47AK16]

my questions is, if AI could reduce incorrect calls and make decision more consistent, wouldn't that make sports betting and the sports itself fairer? What you guys think?

Indeed, and while most sports have been hesitant to implement the use of AI, times are moving ahead, and now I saw MLB where you can challenge bad calls and get them corrected with the use of AI, where they spot the ball where it ended.

Similarly, now most high-level tennis events have automated calls where there are no line judges but just the chair umpire, who makes sure everything is in order, but all the calls are made by the automated system.

Cricket also is adopting the advance systems like Hotspot to detect edges on the surface of the bat, etc. I'd still hope one day the NFL uses AI and allows teams to challenge non-calls because sometimes entire games are being decided by howlers and the NFL just watches and do nothing.

[salad daging]

Some leagues might've been doing it already, but I think it'll be limited to the top leagues because the tech prices nowadays are getting costly and it might take some time before it becomes accessible.

Other sports tweak their rules now and then, and there's just no way AI could be that perfect, to the point where it could beat multiple referees.

It is expensive to get this technology, then in the field of sports that are less popular then it will not be able to cover its costs, I do not know exactly how much its price, it's just for volleyball I think the technology will not be as big as football.

Let's see first how the referee rules for local volleyball is the technology sufficient so that the referee if there is a wrong decision can check VAR like in football? As AI is rapidly evolving, I think even small sports can get this technology.

[Yeesha]

As you have already said, AI assistant is already been use to assist the referee in football and in most sport, but replacing humans is what I disagree with because it can be easily gamed or cheated, since such machine is programmed in a certain way.

One thing we humans are very good at is to game any system that is programmed, so it would be a very bad idea to be officiating a game that is an emotional game with something that has no emotions or psychological thinking, the results wouldn't ends well.

You made a good point. Some people are extremely good at programming, and don't be surprised they can change the mistake made by a player within a short period of time. When thinking about the advantages of AI, we shouldn't forget the disadvantage that human being can control it, and at this point everything is possible, including cheating, manipulation and other things that would be favourable to their supporting teams. Football is something that people love so much, and if someone can sacrifice his life for it, especially when their team lose, what do you think will happen if it is only AI that is controlling everything? Some people might manipulate the system and change the story in the tinkle of an eye.

[lionheart78]

So my questions is, if AI could reduce incorrect calls and make decision more consistent, wouldn't that make sports betting and the sports itself fairer? What you guys think?

Didn't the volleyball umpire can review the video to see whether their call is right?  When a player contested the call, referee tends to look at the replay, but alas, if the referee doesn't retract their call, their original call remains.

I do not see how having AI assistance would reduce the incorrect call, after all, the decision of the umpire or the referee still counts as the final call.

[Miles2006]

AI assistant has been really helpful, if the medical system already see AI assistant as an helpful equipment then sports team might want to consider the idea of AI working together with referee to make final decisions. Aside from malfunction because we can never tell the outcome if used for long period, humans sometimes can be biased reason why a lot of sport fans complain about ref decision.
Humans are not better working alone, sports system has gotten to an extend obviously a new develop age so expecting something more transparent and accurate is long overdue and AI is a good tool for the new development although not replacing humans entirely knowing for a fact AI cannot replace humans.

[Moreno233]

As you have already said, AI assistant is already been use to assist the referee in football and in most sport, but replacing humans is what I disagree with because it can be easily gamed or cheated, since such machine is programmed in a certain way.

One thing we humans are very good at is to game any system that is programmed, so it would be a very bad idea to be officiating a game that is an emotional game with something that has no emotions or psychological thinking, the results wouldn't ends well.

There will always be human error . That doesn’t mean that ai can’t also make mistakes too , yeah is quite common that sometimes , some referees can be bias . There where time we had friendly match then , with just some local club playing and stuff . The referees was just being too bias to a point that it was so obvious like he was bribed or something but the solution is not to replace human referees with Ai both can literally work together to be more effective .

The reason for the introduction of the VAR is some of the things you mentioned. The VAR helps the referee to have a second look at his decision to see if he made the right decision. Theough that process the referee is also monitored as a way of checking how professional then dispose their duties. The addition of AI will just make this process better but I don't think AI is going to be allowed to act autonomously.

[bhadz]

So my questions is, if AI could reduce incorrect calls and make decision more consistent, wouldn't that make sports betting and the sports itself fairer? What you guys think?

It's a good help, especially in intense games when calls are not justified. But I think that all sports have review moments when the opponent contests how the call was. There's this in the NBA but they're limiting the calls so, with AI having the referees on the ground itself could help. Yet just like humans, they are also not 100% accurate in all times. There can be a discrepancy for their calls and that's why the reviews are needed whether AI is used as an assistant or an official referee. And not wholly relying to the call of it, it makes the job easier and quicker but in crucial and important games, there can also be some problems.