Major League Baseball (MLB) will restrict iPad use in dugouts to prevent AI from being used to run strategy decisions.
Adam Ottavino, former reliever for the New York Mets, said his team’s past use of technology spurred the MLB into pushing restrictions on iPad use, which have “access to video and league-provided data, and also included a custom tab where teams could access other programs,” per the Associated Press.
Speaking on his Baseball & Coffee livestream, Ottavino, who pitched for the Mets between 2022-24, said that his former team’s owner, Steve Cohen, even spent money on AI software, leading to the crackdown.
“The Mets were actually the team, the main team, that got cracked down on,” Ottavino said. “They had an AI program that was very expensive apparently, and they were bragging about it a little bit early on in this — the year. Some of the coaches that I know were talking about it from around the league, and they had basically an AI program helping them pick pitches, and I think some other stuff.”
“But MLB got wind of it and nipped that right in the bud, so apparently they weren’t the only team, but I knew about it from the Mets angle,” he added. “They tried to throw some money at the situation. Steve ponied up for — I think this program, from what I heard, was several hundred thousand dollars to have.”
Yankees captain Aaron Judge expressed dismay after reading an article in The Athletic about AI usage in baseball.
“I read the article, and I was like, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Teams are making decisions off of AI? Man, that’s just crazy,” Judge said.
Custom tabs will be inaccessible for MLB teams this week as the second half of the season gets underway.
In a June 11 memo to general managers and assistant GMs, Morgan Sword, MLB executive vice president of baseball operations, said that teams had pushed the boundaries of iPad usage beyond the original intent.
“In many cases, the custom tab had expanded the use of the dugout iPads beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches,” said Sword.
Sword said the prohibition will give teams enough lead time to decouple from AI use.
“Instituting this prohibition beginning with the second half of the season is intended to provide clubs that have relied on the custom tab with appropriate lead time to make any necessary adjustments,” Sword added.