Even before the rise of Artificial Intelligence brought about by platforms such as ChatGPT, soccer was already using the technology in functions such as VAR and Goal Line. However, AI could go further and even replace referees. This is the thinking of Aldo Comi, CEO of Soccerment, one of the world's leading providers of soccer analytics.
"We could get to a point where we don't need referees at all."
For Comi, in the next 30 years high-quality data and the increasing number of cameras on the pitch could mean that an AI-driven machine will eliminate the need for a human referee.
"Computer vision will become increasingly effective in the coming years and the number of cameras on the pitch will only increase," the CEO explained to the PA news agency. According to the professional, the quality of the trained models and the amount of data obtained should lead to the creation of an AI capable of making refereeing decisions. "Therefore, we could get to the point of not needing an arbitrator at all," he said.
Comi also explained that this process should happen gradually. And the first step would be for AI to replace referees. "Maybe they will be the first to disappear from the game. And you will have the referee connected to the virtual assistant, guiding him to make better decisions," he said.
From there, however, it would be a matter of 20 or 30 years before AI replaced referees, he theorized. "I'm not saying that's a good thing, just that it's likely to happen."
AI could also be used as a virtual coach in the future
It need not be limited to refereeing. With better data integration and machine learning, AI could be used as a virtual coach. The idea here, however, would not be to replace human coaches, but to offer support, a kind of assistant coach capable of helping in the team's choice of tactics.
And how could the AI do this? By "predicting" the future. More specifically, by predicting the various possibilities of the next few minutes of play and suggesting tactics to deal with each possibility. "By analyzing data with AI, you can train models to better understand what will happen in the future, for example, by understanding the probabilities of what will happen in the next five to 10 minutes," explains Comi.
According to Soccerment's CEO, from predictive analytics, AI could do prescriptive analytics. "'Things are expected to happen like this, to improve your chances, I have 10 ideas.' It could be swapping two players or changing the structure of the team. The things the AI suggests will be filtered by the assistant coach and then relayed to the coach, and it will be up to the coach to accept them," Comi said, emphasizing the technology as quality support, not a substitute for human professionals.
Soccerment currently serves different Serie A and B clubs with different tools. Comparing the advent and expansion of AI to data analytics, the CEO said he was aware that it would take time for people to trust the new technology. "But as with data analytics, there are enough positive cases to say that it can outperform the others. The advantage AI can offer is more important than data analytics."
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