AI-powered camera zooms in on bald head instead of soccer ball during match

[Polycount]

Facepalm: It's not unheard of for human camera operators to get distracted during sports events, but it seems that the problem only becomes more pronounced when you put a machine in charge. During a recent soccer match between Scottish teams Caledonian Thistle and Ayr United, an AI camera operator repeatedly zoomed in on a linesman's bald head, clearly mistaking it for a soccer ball.

It would be bad enough if the issue popped up once or twice, but as the fan-made highlight video published above shows, it easily happened dozens of times. It was so frequent, in fact, that the AI missed its opportunity to capture a real goal from Ayr United -- a real blow to morale for the team's fans, we're sure.

Caledonian Thistle was the team responsible for bringing the AI camera operator to the field, but it's difficult to blame them for this situation. AI is notoriously unpredictable at times, and for a machine that cannot understand real-world situations with the same accuracy as a human, it's easy to see how it could confuse a bright, shiny bald head for a distant soccer ball.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle don’t employ a cameraman as their camera is programmed to follow the ball throughout the match. The commentator had to apologise today as the camera kept on mistaking the ball for the linesman’s head... pic.twitter.com/LeKsc2bEj7

— Tom Cox (@seagull81) October 24, 2020

According to one viewer, the commentator struggling to follow the action through the AI's erratic movements was forced to apologize for the malfunction. He was probably a bit too hard on himself, though: again, faulty machine learning is nobody's fault but the ones who developed it, and even then, it would have been nearly impossible for them to predict a situation like this.

Though we're sure this dilemma was unpleasant for fans of both teams at the time, at least we can all have a laugh about it now and hope the AI works a bit better next time. Alternatively, the teams could just ask the linesman to wear a cap in the future.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/87431-ai-powered-camera-zooms-bald-head-instead-soccer.html

 

[Danny101]

Lol

 

[Lew Zealand]

If they can't afford a cameraman, at least they could spend a few quid on wigs for glabrous linesmen.

 

[stewi0001]

The AI fell in love with the lineman. XD

 

[brucek]

First soccer video I've clicked on in quite some time. AI works!

 

[kimo1]

First soccer video I've clicked on in quite some time. AI works!

AI powered sports ad!

 

[Uncle Al]

Happens to me on the golf course a lot too!

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Let's face it, a bald eagle is infinitely more interesting than any sport.

 

[GamerNerves]

Haha! Just to be clear AI can never understand anything (proper word is maybe detect, specify, determine, etc.). It has it's rules and orders, but it never cannot understand what 'a ball' stands for in specific contexts or what it's purpose is in this world. An AI could be programmed to do nasty things for sure, like kill people, but it never really thinks on it's own or comprehend anything. Certainly a helpful tool like a gun in right hands, but bad in others. It will only repeat the things thaught to it, much like a brainwashed individual.

 

[mbrowne5061]

If they can't afford a cameraman, at least they could spend a few quid on wigs for glabrous linesmen.

You joke, but that may actually be the cheapest and fastest hotfix for this situation: linemen in drag. At least until they can fix their computer vision models.

 

[TheBigT42]

If they can't afford a cameraman, at least they could spend a few quid on wigs for glabrous linesmen.

Or at least give them a hat that is a different color.

 

[Buhaj]

It's interesting how Americans say "football".

 

[mbrowne5061]

It's interesting how Americans say "football".

Its interesting how the original name for game is "soccer", and it was the rest of the world (mostly England and its colonies) that decided to change the name when they took out "hacking" (wrestling, tackling, etc) to leave 'footwork' as the only way to really play the game.

From that perspective, it makes sense why Americans make a distinction between "American Football" and "soccer". Though I can't really explain how the names got swapped. That's the weird part.