The Oakland Ballers, a minor league baseball team, experimented with an AI system managing a game by making lineup and strategic decisions based on a century of baseball data, marking a first in baseball history. While the AI’s choices were competent, the team ultimately returned to human coaching, emphasizing the importance of human intuition, emotion, and experience in sports despite AI’s potential to assist.
Major League Baseball is embracing technology by introducing robotic umpires next season, where human umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams will have two challenges decided by a computerized camera system. While humans remain in charge of in-game decisions, one minor league team, the Oakland Ballers, experimented with allowing artificial intelligence (AI) to manage a game. The Ballers, a young team in the Pioneer League, temporarily handed over coaching duties to an AI system that used 100 years of baseball data to make lineup decisions and manage the game.
Coach Aaron Miles, a former major league player and World Series champion, was sidelined for one game as the AI took over. The AI selected the lineup and made strategic decisions, which was a first in baseball history. Although the AI’s choices closely mirrored what Coach Miles might have done, some players felt slighted when the AI picked certain players over others. Despite mixed feelings, the experiment was seen as a glimpse into how AI could augment professional sports in the future.
Andre Kuryki, CEO of Distillery, an AI integration company, supported the experiment, stating that AI possesses broader and deeper knowledge about baseball than any human. However, he emphasized that AI is not meant to replace coaches but to assist them. On game day, the AI-managed Ballers played a close and tense game, even falling behind at one point, which raised questions about whether human intuition and experience are still crucial in managing a team.
After the AI-managed game, the Ballers’ co-owner Paul Friedman humorously announced that the AI would be “fired” due to its lack of feelings, highlighting the importance of human emotion and judgment in sports. Despite the AI’s competent moves, the team returned to human coaching for the playoffs. The Ballers, having already secured 70 wins in the season, went on to win the Pioneer League Championship with Coach Miles back in charge, rallying from a two-game deficit to win three straight games in front of a sellout crowd.
The experiment sparked debate about the role of AI in sports, with some expressing concern about dehumanizing the game. Coach Miles and others believe that while AI can provide valuable insights, the final decisions should rest with experienced human coaches who understand the nuances and emotions of the game. Ultimately, the Oakland Ballers’ success under human leadership reaffirmed the importance of the human element in baseball, even as technology continues to advance.