Sensors and AI may replace referees

Mere seconds remain on the clock. Your favored NFL team is advancing to the endzone, looking to score a dramatic comeback. Fourth down. The ball’s snapped. Your quarterback is on the run, defenders hounding him. Planting his feet, he chucks the ball deep into the endzone, your star receiver practically leaping over mountains to make the catch. He comes down, but — wait, was he in or out of bounds?

Suddenly, the play goes to the replay booth. TV analysts and folks at home pore through replays, sorting through different angles. Frame-by-frame, millions of folks are trying to figure it out on the fly. The call comes down, the experts in the replay booth have made their decision. Many rejoice others scream at their TVs, certain the officials are blind and don’t understand the rule book.

If you follow sports, you’ve probably seen a situation like the above play out at some point. Yet someday, officials making rulings may be relegated to sports history books. This past fall, FIFA trialed limb tracking technologies to track whether players were offside, and some even believe that AI could one day replace human refs.

Human refs have caused a lot of problems over the years. Back in the 1986 World Cup semifinals, Argentina beat England 2-1 when a player swatted the soccer ball into the goal with his hand. This isn’t allowed in soccer, of course, but the on-field refs missed it. Meanwhile, an NBA study found that refs were correct only 86 percent of the time in the final minutes of a game.

With sensors tracking balls and goal lines and artificial intelligence analyzing video feeds, it may be possible to reduce errors and to create a more level, honest playing field.