Is it time to replace refs with AI?

[itrsteve]

Remember that humans have to train AI, it would take years to get it close to correct and even longer if Tony Brothers is involved.

[Ruma85]

Remember that humans have to train AI, it would take years to get it close to correct and even longer if Tony Brothers is involved.

It wouldn't take as long as you think.

[levon]

It'd be a hell of a lot more reliable than whatever garbage NBA refs are putting out there.

[Whateva]

I would say in 3-4 years they gonna be better than human refs

[Ruma85]

I would say in 3-4 years they gonna be better than human refs

They might be, but NBA will still have human refs by then, is technology better or are the refs better in the NHL compared to the NBA, I feel like the NBA are lacking compared to other sports.

[BruttoNostra]

Unless it can take care of my dishes and laundry I am very old man yells at clouds with regards to AI.

Myself I'm very skeptical of some of the AI hype, even though I'm in tech myself, but:
1. People sometimes confuse between Tech and AI. You don't need an AI to decide if the player stepped on the line or released the ball in time or whether it's goaltending or not, even some basic fouls --> this technology exists for a long time already and is used in other sports for at least a decade.
2. There is a middle ground between "keep as is" and "make it all AI" - I don't see how it doesn't improve things. Outsourcing plenty of "stupid" tasks to the tech (like the above examples) will free the cognitive load from the refs to focus on more vague part of the referring.

Maybe few years down the line the AI might be good enough to replace ALL the referring (though it has more problems than AI-hype machine presents you), but there is no harm to introduce more tech to the referring process not today but yesterday.

[BruttoNostra]

The problem with AI might be that it becomes so smart that it starts to bet on games (it rigs), earns trillions and takes a full control of the world with all that money

[Ssj16]

I wish there was an answer to that has refs assisted with AI.

As humans, I think we still want the human element of the game which is the imperfection of a human ref. That being said, they need to speed up the reviews. And AI could be used as a tool that would help grade refs and encourage them to get better.

[hugolizard]

How can you vote no if you want games to be called fairly?

[LakersSoul]

No. There would be way too many ticky tack fouls (especially away from the ball) that would result in way too many players fouling out. The whole game would change to a point where all the offense will do is attack the star player to get him in foul trouble. Coaches would have to counter with substituting offensive/defensive “squads”.

Adjust it to remove small tricky tack fouls unless it’s during shooting motion.

Let them also penalize egregious fake action fouls.

[LakersSoul]

With so many missed calls and refs losing objectivity with “T”s and ejections, while technology advancing at hyper-speed, Is it time to replace refs with AI?

Remove 75% of refs and replace them with AI will:

1. speed the game up
2. Eliminate cheaters
3. Reduce complaints
4. Keep calls consistent
5. Save money in long term

What do you guys think?

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=QvEzK5sPZB2bJ5j4baboWw

Two worthless refs getting paid and cheating!

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=QvEzK5sPZB2bJ5j4baboWw

[LakersSoul]

With so many missed calls and refs losing objectivity with “T”s and ejections, while technology advancing at hyper-speed, Is it time to replace refs with AI?

Remove 75% of refs and replace them with AI will:

1. speed the game up
2. Eliminate cheaters
3. Reduce complaints
4. Keep calls consistent
5. Save money in long term

What do you guys think?

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=QvEzK5sPZB2bJ5j4baboWw

Two worthless refs getting paid and cheating!

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=QvEzK5sPZB2bJ5j4baboWw

If NBA doesn’t investigate this then fans should stop watching!

[cupcakesnake]

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

No idea how any kind of tech would call fouls. We don't have cameras that can measure force (it can only measure speed). Our data gathering tools would treat being touched and getting pushed as the same thing.

Like human refs, a camera based AI-ref would still have limit viewpoints unless you had hundreds of cameras. A lot of call/non-calls are based on the angle the refs had.

Technically there are several things in any given possession that could be called fouls. An AI ref would have to be trained not to call a foul on every possession. Once we're telling the AI to not call certain fouls... I don't know, what are we really accomplishing with this.

Officiating is always going to have a subjective element to it. Once you accept that, the more you can enjoy the game and stop whining about calls you don't like.

[Ruma85]

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

No idea how any kind of tech would call fouls. We don't have cameras that can measure force (it can only measure speed). Our data gathering tools would treat being touched and getting pushed as the same thing.

Like human refs, a camera based AI-ref would still have limit viewpoints unless you had hundreds of cameras. A lot of call/non-calls are based on the angle the refs had.

Technically there are several things in any given possession that could be called fouls. An AI ref would have to be trained not to call a foul on every possession. Once we're telling the AI to not call certain fouls... I don't know, what are we really accomplishing with this.

Officiating is always going to have a subjective element to it. Once you accept that, the more you can enjoy the game and stop whining about calls you don't like.

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

^^ if this was added I think the game would be in a better state than it is currently.

[LakersSoul]

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

No idea how any kind of tech would call fouls. We don't have cameras that can measure force (it can only measure speed). Our data gathering tools would treat being touched and getting pushed as the same thing.

Like human refs, a camera based AI-ref would still have limit viewpoints unless you had hundreds of cameras. A lot of call/non-calls are based on the angle the refs had.

Technically there are several things in any given possession that could be called fouls. An AI ref would have to be trained not to call a foul on every possession. Once we're telling the AI to not call certain fouls... I don't know, what are we really accomplishing with this.

Officiating is always going to have a subjective element to it. Once you accept that, the more you can enjoy the game and stop whining about calls you don't like.

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

^^ if this was added I think the game would be in a better state than it is currently.

Anything and everything that we can let AI/technology execute with finite rules, we should.

Refs are spotlight seeking and focus is moving away from what fans want to see: stars execute!

[cupcakesnake]

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

No idea how any kind of tech would call fouls. We don't have cameras that can measure force (it can only measure speed). Our data gathering tools would treat being touched and getting pushed as the same thing.

Like human refs, a camera based AI-ref would still have limit viewpoints unless you had hundreds of cameras. A lot of call/non-calls are based on the angle the refs had.

Technically there are several things in any given possession that could be called fouls. An AI ref would have to be trained not to call a foul on every possession. Once we're telling the AI to not call certain fouls... I don't know, what are we really accomplishing with this.

Officiating is always going to have a subjective element to it. Once you accept that, the more you can enjoy the game and stop whining about calls you don't like.

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

^^ if this was added I think the game would be in a better state than it is currently.

Anything and everything that we can let AI/technology execute with finite rules, we should.

Refs are spotlight seeking and focus is moving away from what fans want to see: stars execute!

I think this premise is silly, and demonstrates limited understanding of both AI and NBA officiating.

[LakersSoul]

Technology (not sure why we're calling this AI) could call out of bounds, goaltending, 3 in the key/illegal defense.

^^ if this was added I think the game would be in a better state than it is currently.

Anything and everything that we can let AI/technology execute with finite rules, we should.

Refs are spotlight seeking and focus is moving away from what fans want to see: stars execute!

I think this premise is silly, and demonstrates limited understanding of both AI and NBA officiating.

I dont think you understand AI's possibilities

[Wigginstime]

Remember that humans have to train AI, it would take years to get it close to correct and even longer if Tony Brothers is involved.

I worked an AI project that attempted to replace quality inspectors from an manufacturing line with high mag imaging and AI.

AI typically takes years to train for new applications. The biggest challenge with any AI system is getting enough data to train it. Luckily we have +1000 games season and +50 years of video to feed into the AI as a starting point.

[LakersSoul]

Remember that humans have to train AI, it would take years to get it close to correct and even longer if Tony Brothers is involved.

I worked an AI project that attempted to replace quality inspectors from an manufacturing line with high mag imaging and AI.

AI typically takes years to train for new applications. The biggest challenge with any AI system is getting enough data to train it. Luckily we have +1000 games season and +50 years of video to feed into the AI as a starting point.

Thinking AI cannot solve reffing an NBA is funny.

10000+ games and set rules based on contact, hand movement and shooter interaction. Simple stuff.

[LakersSoul]

Remember that humans have to train AI, it would take years to get it close to correct and even longer if Tony Brothers is involved.

I worked an AI project that attempted to replace quality inspectors from an manufacturing line with high mag imaging and AI.

AI typically takes years to train for new applications. The biggest challenge with any AI system is getting enough data to train it. Luckily we have +1000 games season and +50 years of video to feed into the AI as a starting point.

OVERVIEW:
There are 70 refs on NBA payroll per year.
Salaries range from $200-550k per year.
Average at $333K per year and each game has 3 refs grouping working on the game.

That means $1million per game.
Thats $23m per year on refs.

These morons have egos and call based on their condition and reaction to players instead of applying the rules WITHOUT bias.

Time for AI to reduce refs from 70 to 15 and call games objectively and not based on their biases.