Artificial intelligence may be used for judging at LA28 Olympics

Gymnastics officials are preparing for the potential use of artificial intelligence to assist with scoring at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Leaders within the sport have indicated they would be "highly surprised" if this technology is not utilised during the event.

The implementation of these systems remains controversial, with some elite athletes expressing concerns that the technology is "dangerous" and noting that they are "not robots." During the recent World Championships, British gymnast Harry Hepworth and Olympic champion Carlos Yulo experienced a reduction in their difficulty ratings for the piked Dragulescu vault. Their scores were lowered from 5.6 to 5.2 due to the system's detection.

Following his return from Rotterdam, Harry Hepworth explained that he bends his legs during the half twist to prepare for a safe landing. He stated: "On the half twist I bend my legs so that I can prepare for the landing, which I think is the most sensible thing to do because you don't want to break your legs or anything." He added: "But the AI detection system caught on to it and said I was doing a tuck position, which then downgrades the vault by four tenths." Referring to Carlos Yulo's performance, he noted that the pressure to keep legs straight to satisfy the AI led to the athlete falling, which he described as "quite dangerous."

Carlos Yulo expressed his frustration regarding the scoring, telling Inside Gymnastics: "I don't know what the problem is. It's AI, I'm not a robot, we're human beings, in my eyes and in my opinion. I think everyone also is maybe a bit disappointed about it because everyone is feeling it is pike position, why is it only 5.2?"

Andrew Tombs, the president of the Men's Artistic Gymnastics technical committee, maintained that the system ensures fairness for competitors. He claimed that human judges would have reached the same conclusion regarding the difficulty ratings even without the Judging Support System. However, he noted that discussions with coaches are continuing to refine when the system takes its measurements, stating: "I think the decisions made at the championships were correct based on what was in the system."