The Ringer’s Kirk Goldsberry leading Texas athletics’ new AI initiative
· Yahoo Sports
Earlier this month, Washington State Athletics received widespread backlash after announcing its partnership with FanWord, an AI-powered storytelling platform.
That did not deter the University of Texas.
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On Friday, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte announced the launch of Bevo Lab, an AI data analytics platform.
“I’m fired up. I’m excited. This is earth-shattering,” Del Conte said in an exclusive interview with Karoline Leonard of the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas has designated Kirk Goldsberry, an NBA analyst for The Ringer and the executive director of the Business of Sports Institute at UT, to lead its Bevo Lab initiative. Goldsberry previously oversaw analytics operations for the San Antonio Spurs.
Ellyn Briggs of Front Office Sports pressed Goldsberry on the ethics and conflicts inherent in embracing AI in this lengthy, nuanced Q&A, including one question about the strong anti-AI sentiment among sports communities.
“There are reasons to be skeptical about AI and its impact in many domains – and trust me, I’m there. I’m a writer,” Goldsberry said, in part. “But when it comes to sports analytics, it’s pretty clear that this stuff is going to lead to a lot of improvement and a lot of new standards for best practices in that field.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Goldsberry shut down any notion that Bevo Lab comes at the expense of human labor, saying, “No, quite the opposite, and I have the budget I’m putting together to prove it.” He also ensured that he and everyone behind Bevo Lab at Texas are taking seriously the “significant ethical concerns” associated with AI.
Bevo Lab “will be used solely by UT and use UT data exclusively,” Leonard reported for the Austin American-Statesman. Head football coach Steve Sarkisian used it to make a fourth-down decision against the Florida Gators last week. The Gators sacked Texas quarterback Arch Manning on the play. The Longhorns later lost the game, 27-24.
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