The Professional Squash Association says that artificial technology will be used to assist referees – and will begin testing AI systems which could support officials in the sport.
PSA CEO Alex Gough described AI as a potential “game changer” for squash as the sport looks to utilise the latest technology to improve fan and player experience. However, tech leaders have urged companies to not be hasty in implementing technology.
Speaking at the recent SportAccord Summit, Gough said: “I think we could see a situation where AI could be a game changer in refereeing.
“Squash refereeing is very subjective and it could be a great tool for officials if they could have the technology there saying “this was a stroke, or a let.”
Gough said that SquashTV was currently utilising AI to assist in creating highlights to increase the capacity to deliver content around the world.
“For squash broadcasting and how the game is played, AI represents an opportunity,” he said
“It’s super exciting, the computing power of these systems is getting more and more powerful as they learn about the speed of players and the ball and what the crowd are engaging with. And it gets better the more it’s used, as it begins teaching itself what makes a great highlight.
“We’ve got a great team and we provide clips and highlights to broadcasters and media partners all over the world. In the past, this has meant a person having to watch an entire match to clip, but with the development of AI this can be done far more efficiently, saving a lot of labour that will allow us to do more elsewhere.”
In an opinion piece last year for Sportico, Bill Squadron, assistant professor of Sport Management at Elon University and senior advisor to the AI-driven sports technology company Pramana Labs, said that AI “would allow calls to be made consistently, which would ensure fairness to each side.”
He wrote: “In addition, it would eliminate the incessant haranguing of officials, allowing athletes to focus on the game and get rid of an unpleasant part of the fan experience. It would also put an end to the interminable video reviews.
“The development of such a system will not be easy. High-resolution cameras can certainly drive AI-based calculations that reflect all game play and rules, but the system must be able to address the nuances of each sport.”
Meanwhile, a technology leader said this month that society is at the pinnacle of the AI “hype cycle”.
Expensify’s COO Anuradha Muralidharan said that companies feel like they need to get involved now or miss out, but it is important for them to understand whether AI is actually the solution for their problems.
Muralidharan set out a simple test for firms to establish whether AI will actually solve the problem they are facing. Speaking at Web Summit Rio, Muralidharan said: “The truth of the matter is, it feels like AI is everywhere, and we are really at the very pinnacle of its hype cycle – if you don’t get involved now, it feels like you might lose out.
“But really, before you decide that you have a task or a problem and maybe AI is the solution to this problem, I encourage you to put that task or problem through what I like to call a ‘litmus test’. And I’ve very creatively again named this litmus test the ‘three Ts’.