Can AI Play Sports Yet?

Can AI Actually Play Sports Yet?

Even before I was introduced to the world of machine learning, I had seen videos of robots playing sports in almost every sport that exists.

These had typically always been concept projects or marketing gimmicks to gain clicks or create content. But sometimes, these robots actually seemed impressive.

This article serves as a review of the common/most popular robots or displays of AI actually playing sports that I could find. Note that this is not focused on applications of AI in practical/modern use cases, such as analytics or predictions; it is purely physical robots playing sports.

So, Which Sports Have Robots?

Golf

If you read my bio, you know I’m an avid golfer and typically try to incorporate an element of sports/golf into most of my posts here. Naturally, the immediate robot that came to mind was this commercial with Rory Mcilroy from the DP World Tour.

The robot itself only spits out pre-written words but, impressively, can strike the ball quite well. And this video is over ten years old. The robot strikes with high swing speed and consistency and produces a noticeable backspin.

We’ve since seen a similar robot reused in many PGA tour events. And it seems good for one thing: repeatable actions. This is a common theme you will see in some of the other robots. These robots do not analyze their situations like one might in a video game reinforcement learning exercise. They just perform the motion programmed to perform.

Basketball

The most famous basketball robot is a product from Toyota.

This robot has the Guinness World Record for most free throws in a row (over 2000 in a row). I mean, this thing is seriously lethal. But again, it can ONLY do one task.

After it went viral in 2017, Toyota worked on updating it and adding capabilities beyond just free throws. The product can run around (roll on wheels), shoot half-court shots, and actually adjust power from different ranges.

Again, still remote/programmatic. It's very similar to the golf robot. But it is still fun to watch

Soccer/Football

Okay, now we’re talking. Google’s robots learned soccer, improved themselves, and actually played the game without instructions.

The robots were given one instruction - score the ball. And after two weeks of reinforcement, they learned to legitimately play soccer against each other.

This use case is seriously impressive. They learned legitimate tactics like passing, quick-stopping moves, dribbling, and actual shooting form.

It only took three sports before I found a practical AI use case. While this may seem crude at first, it’s actually an AI use case. Myth busted.

Summary

Yes, AI can play sports. And I mean ACTUALLY play them. Not just perform a pre-executed script of maneuvers. We’ll see if humans actually find this entertaining and start giving them max contracts to play for their home country.

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