Dravid backs AI in predicting injuries, warns against overuse

Former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday hoped Artificial Intelligence would be able to predict injuries to players in future but also warned against over-use and dependency on technology in cricket.

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Dravid said predicting injuries to players is something that has not been done so far despite the advancement of technology.

“On the sporting field, one of the things that you are really hopeful about what AI might be able to do, is (to predict) injuries,” Dravid said at a panel discussion during AMFI Mutual Fund Summit here on Saturday.

“You just look at the level of injuries that we have and no one really has a perfect answer as to why people pick up stress fractures and there is no one size fits all; I am just using a stress fracture for the back as an example for fast bowlers.

“You have seen over the last years so much of data, so much of sports medicine, science and stuff going into it but no one being able to really predict that, that’s sad, that’s (about) people’s careers, lives. So if AI can get us there and we will be able to predict injuries,” he added.

Dravid said finding the right balance in use of technology and human judgement is paramount.

“I’m not saying that you can adopt it completely, but certainly it’s a great tool and it’s something that is being used more and more in sport in terms of strategy, in terms of tactics, player development, player enhancement,” he said.

“In this day and age, you’ve got to be able to use all of this data and technology for your benefit.

“(But) you can’t become a slave of it, but certainly there are huge advantages to using artificial intelligence. You’ve got to find that balance between recognising that the data is important,” the batting stalwart said.

Dravid said while technology has helped in matters of “fairer selection” between players, it cannot help picking teams for variety of conditions that teams come across while playing at multiple venues.