What’s at stake?
This week, we delved into the ever increasing presence of AI technologies. More specifically, we discussed the professions that we think are at risk because of AI’s capabilities. We spend lots of time talking about its potential influence on transportation, fashion and even accounting. I, though, brought up the idea of the use of technology in the world of professional sports… more specifically, officiating. In the game of baseball, it is commonly known that one cannot argue calls regarding balls and strikes. To eliminate this problem, many individuals have argued for an automated system (as seen by many of the major sport networks) that can track where the ball crosses home plate. This seems like a great idea for outsiders, but as someone who is so close to the game, I can say that I am not in favor of the implementation of this new technology. Fortunately for me, there are no current plans to expand the game’s technology in this respect. Baseball and other sports, though, have implemented reviewable plays (balls and strikes do not qualify). This allows important plays in the game to be evaluated correctly. I think this is a great step forward in the world of sports, without taking away from the true nature of the game (with officials).
Some of the readings really had me thinking over the weekend, more specifically To Do With the Price of Fish and $1 Billion for Dollar Shave Club. I was beyond surprise to learn of the monumental role that the institution of a phone played on the fishing economy in India. The phone allowed the fishermen to decipher which markets were more suitable to sell to in order to maximize profit without wasting any of the product. If a telephone can make such a stark impact on this industry, are there any inventions that can influence our economy in the same way? Only time will tell… also, the release of a video can completely revolutionize the razor industry. Even a jocular video such as the one presented from Dollar Shave Club gets the company’s name out there, and allowed the company to take over the industry.
I am excited to read and discuss more about the role that technology plays on our society and others… stay tuned, to be continued…
Mike Smith
September 27, 2017 @ 5:57 pm
Matty talks in his post about officiating too. You might want to check it out and some of the comments being posted there.
Related to your comments on the fishing article, I find it fascinating to learn about the ways the Internet, and networked connectivity in general, is being used to address societal problems outside the U.S., problems we don’t necessarily have here. As one example, see the following and in particular the section on health:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/africa/mobile-phones-change-africa/index.html
Jim Waldo
September 30, 2017 @ 9:57 pm
I love baseball, and have been a season ticket holder to the local, single-A-short-season minor league team (the Lowell Spinners, affiliate of the Red Sox) since they first came to town over 20 years ago. I generally score each game, and love the way that the game lends itself to statistics and analysis.
One of the aspects of single-A ball is single-A umpires. Given where I sit (right behind home plate) I can see the catcher and pitcher test and get used to the different umpires on different nights, and some of the calls are, um, interesting. But I like this variation in the game. I don’t much worry about the balls and strikes as long as the umpire is consistent (not always the case at this level). Indeed, watching the battery adjust is part of the fun. I’d hate to see that replaced, even if the replacement was “better,” since the game wouldn’t be.