Imagine being an athlete who can now be scouted without meeting a scout in person. The idea of this is becoming the new reality, making the lives of athletes and scouts easier.

While the average person might assume that artificial intelligence is a new form of technology popularized by ChatGPT, V.N. Vimal Rao, professor in LAS, has a very different angle. 

“I’ve been interested in AI … for at least a decade,” Rao said. “In the mid-90s, I would trace back the developmental efforts to these educational computer games that were interactive.”

New technologies let scouts compile large amounts of video from players and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. It allows scouts to search for players and athletes with strengths they want for their team.  

“It can track every single movement and how they interact together,” Rao said. “I should be able to get a report of their strengths and weaknesses without actually having to watch it myself.”

Rao noted that if the AI model is built properly, it can analyze athlete footage and give back a report. This process can make finding athletes easier for scouts while saving them time.

These new technologies also play a huge role in finding athletes that would have gone undiscovered under normal methods.   

The world of AI scouting also makes the scouting process accessible for athletes. Apps like aiScout mention how accessible and easy it is to get out there. The app showcases how its users can receive feedback, develop skills, get scouted and more all through their phone. 

The ideas and tools presented in apps like aiScout connect to how the scouts use AI to their benefit. The app allows the athletes to see reports of their skills and get analyzed. It benefits the athlete by having more channels for improvement and receiving the help they might need. 

While some worry that new technologies and AI will take away from human jobs, this is not the case. According to YellowBrick, new AI technologies also increase jobs in the sports industry. 

Certain new, in-demand jobs include AI engineers, data scientists and sports analysts. With sports being such a niche field, it is important to the industry that new opportunities emerge for expansion. 

There’s no doubt that AI is constantly changing the world we live in. It’s also clear that using AI in sports scouting brings numerous benefits to both sides of the scouting process. 

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