Google’s AI is being used to judge snowboard halfpipe competitions at X Games

The X Games is testing artificial intelligence to assist with judging snowboard halfpipe competitions in Aspen, marking a significant step in bringing AI technology to subjectively judged sports.

The technology setup: Google Cloud’s Vertex AI system has been trained on thousands of hours of halfpipe footage and established judging criteria to evaluate snowboarding performances.

• The AI platform was developed through a collaboration between X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom and Google founder Sergey Brin
• The system analyzes key performance elements including jump height, trick difficulty, and execution
• Judges traditionally score runs on a 100-point scale based on these technical components

Initial implementation approach: The AI system will serve as a demonstration tool during this year’s X Games, running alongside but not replacing traditional judging.

• The technology will predict the top 3 finishers after observing practice sessions
• It will provide real-time commentary and scoring for three riders’ competition runs
• Results will be displayed on television broadcasts and made available to human judges for reference

Purpose and potential benefits: This technological integration aims to enhance judging accuracy and provide additional verification for scoring decisions.

• The system could help catch elements or details that human judges might miss during rapid competition runs
• It offers a complementary perspective to support more objective scoring
• The technology creates potential for improved consistency in evaluating complex athletic performances

Current limitations and future outlook: While promising, the AI judging system remains in early development stages with a focused implementation strategy.

• The platform is currently limited to analyzing halfpipe competitions only
• X Games leadership emphasizes that AI will augment rather than replace human judges
• The technology shows potential for adaptation to other subjectively scored sports competitions

Looking ahead – bridging technology and tradition: The X Games’ AI judging experiment represents a careful balance between preserving the human element of sport while leveraging technology to enhance fairness and accuracy in competition scoring.