Challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence implementation within sports science and sports medicine teams

Abstract

The rapid progress in the development of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as ChatGPT, represents a step-wise change in human's interactions with technology as part of a broader complex, sociotechnical system. Based on historical parallels to the present moment, such changes are likely to bring forth structural shifts to the nature of work, where near and future technologies will occupy key roles as workers or assistants in sports science and sports medicine multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). This envisioned future may bring enormous benefits, as well as a raft of potential challenges. These challenges include the potential to remove many human roles and allocate them to semi- or fully-autonomous AI. Removing such roles and tasks from humans will make many current jobs and careers untenable, leaving a set of difficult and unrewarding tasks for the humans that remain. Paradoxically, replacing humans with technology increases system complexity and makes them more prone to failure. The automation and AI boom also brings substantial opportunities. Among them are automated sentiment analysis and Digital Twin technologies which may reveal novel insights into athlete health and wellbeing and team tactical patterns, respectively. However, without due consideration of the interactions between humans and technology in the broader system of sport, adverse impacts are likely to be felt. Human and AI teamwork may require new ways of thinking.