Ryan O'Hanlon

Hey, Jane.

Thanks for having me.

Yes.

So they say most of the AI features are around refereeing and improving the refereeing process.

So some 3D modeling using what they are saying player avatars to be more accurate in terms of calling offside, also being able to determine whether the ball has gone out of bounds for a throw in or a corner kick.

There's also a sensor in the ball.

And then they also have the AI tool that you've talked about, which is delivering various metrics, which they've said will democratize the use of AI among all the teams at the World Cup.

Yeah, I think Gianni Infantino is the first... He'll be the first person to jump on any trend that is happening in the world.

And AI is the big thing that people seem to be excited about.

So Gianni Infantino wants us all to think that AI is going to transform the World Cup for us for the better.

But if I had to venture, I think...

the result of all this AI talk for fans will less be an improved experience and more be annoyance with hearing the phrase AI over and over again.

Yeah, I don't think so.

I think that there will probably be all kinds of new metrics that are thrown at us throughout the tournament.

But I think those metrics will, as they tend to be very context-free, black box produced, and also, as tends to be the case with a lot of soccer statistics you see on television...

just not connected to winning and what actually predicts what wins games in any kind of real way will be my guess.

I'm happy to be proven wrong, though.

Yeah, I think that's a really good point.

And I do think making analytical tools or data available to more teams is a good thing in general.

But at the World Cup, you're limited by who was born in your country or nationalized to play for your team or who your country colonized or has a military base in at some point.