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The takeover of artificial intelligence has officially reached the sporting world, as one of the biggest tennis tournaments will use technology to eliminate human error.
According to the Associated Press, the All England Club announced on Wednesday that artificial intelligence will be used to make the out and fault calls at the Wimbledon Championships starting in 2025.
Organizers of the prestigious Grand Slam tournament said the live electronic calling “builds on existing ball tracking and line calling technology that has been in place for many years.” The decision to take it over completely next year came after “extensive testing” at Wimbledon last summer.
“We consider the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in the pursuit of maximum accuracy in our operations,” said Sally Bolton, CEO of the All England Club. “For the players it will offer them the same conditions under which they have played at a number of other events on tour.”
Line-calling technology has long been used at Wimbledon and other tennis tournaments to determine whether serves are on or off, but this is the first time this technology will be fully implemented as the authority on calling during tournament matches.
Line judges dressed in elegant uniforms have traditionally been used to make the out and fault calls at Wimbledon, but Bolton added that the tournament has a responsibility to “balance tradition and innovation.”
“Line umpires have played a central role in our championship officiating setup for decades, and we recognize their valuable contributions and thank them for their commitment and service,” she said.