Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!
Is nobody safe from the cold, dead hands of artificial intelligence? Certainly not if you’re in the business of attempting to write a borderline humorous weekday mailshot. Take this, punched into a smartphone, belched out by ChatGPT in mere seconds after the instructions: “Write 100 words on AI in football in the style of the Guardian’s Football Daily email.”
Ah, football and AI — the game’s newest double act. From tracking player movement with eerie precision to whispering tactical tweaks into analysts’ ears, artificial intelligence is now as common at training grounds as bibs and banter. Clubs crunch mountains of data to predict fatigue, refine pressing triggers, even scout teenagers before they’ve finished growing. VAR, of course, remains the clumsy cousin — still learning when ‘clear and obvious’ actually means clear and obvious. But love it or loathe it, AI isn’t leaving the pitch anytime soon. The algorithms are watching — and your xG just twitched slightly higher.”
Eesh. A not unworthy effort, but perhaps not one to show the suits [we’ve read worse – Football Daily Ed]. Maybe short on the usual top-level honks, but the temptation to allow the machines to take the strain is strong across many trades. Accountants quiver at the speed AI can produce a spreadsheet, many management consultant types swear by AI for its assistance in doing whatever it is management consultants do. OK, the examples so far in the creative sphere have been forgettable, particularly AI music. Faux-Americana “band” Velvet Sundown are a pale imitation of the most milquetoast stuff that gets on the 6 Music playlist but it has been, as the tech bros might say, a bit of a disruptor within the music industry.
