How AI Is Changing Olympic Judging — and Why It Matters
For decades, Olympic athletes have been judged not only on speed, strength, and skill, but also on nuance — a judge’s keen eye assessing the subtle perfection of a gymnast’s flip or a figure skater’s spin. But today, artificial intelligence is poised to transform that human-centered process, bringing both promise and challenge to the heart of elite sport.
Why AI Is Entering the Olympic Arena
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has embraced AI as part of its long-term strategy for more accurate, consistent, and transparent judging. With the Olympic AI Agenda now guiding future games, systems that assist judges with objective data — like rotation counts, angular measurements, and motion tracking — are being tested for disciplines such as figure skating, big air, and ski jumping.
Traditionally, panels of human judges work in real time, trying to assess complex athletic movements that unfold in seconds from limited camera angles. Even the most experienced judges can make errors, and past incidents — such as controversial gymnastics decisions at major Olympics — reveal how fragile trust can be when scoring hinges on subjective interpretation.
What AI Can (and Can’t) Fix
AI’s appeal in judged sports stems from its ability to process fast, precise data that humans simply can’t see. Algorithms can measure exact jump heights, angles of takeoff, and rotational counts with a level of precision that exceeds human perception. This means fewer inconsistencies and potentially fairer outcomes across athletes and events.
Yet there’s a deeper tension at play: precision isn’t always synonymous with fairness. Human judges consider artistic expression, fluidity, and emotion — elements of performance that resist easy quantification. An AI system might flag a tiny deviation in a limb’s angle even when the overall execution reflects artistic excellence, resulting in penalties that feel counterintuitive to athletes and fans alike.
Moreover, AI systems reflect the data on which they are trained. If that data underrepresents certain body types, styles, or cultural expressions of movement, the system may unwittingly reproduce bias rather than eliminate it. This challenge mirrors broader debates in AI ethics — where “neutral” algorithms can still embed systemic blind spots.
Trials, Tensions, and Transparent Futures
Experimental use of AI in judged events is already underway. At the 2025 X Games, AI-assisted systems generated independent performance scores alongside human judges, offering a glimpse of what hybrid judging might look like. Reactions were mixed: some athletes and fans embraced the consistency and clarity AI offered, while others worried that machine scoring could dampen innovation or disrupt the expressive culture of action sports.
AI is also transforming other aspects of the Olympic experience. From biomechanical overlays that help coaches refine technique, to enhanced replays and data visualization tools that deepen spectator engagement, the influence of intelligent systems extends well beyond the judge’s scorecard.
At What Cost?
The ultimate goal of the Olympic AI Agenda is clear: make sport fairer, more transparent, and more engaging for all. Yet the integration of AI also raises institutional and cultural questions. If machines increasingly shape how excellence is defined and measured, will the very soul of sport — human effort, creativity, and expression — be altered? The challenge lies not only in harnessing technology, but in preserving the values that give each sport its meaning.
As AI moves from experimentation to operational use, one thing is evident: the future of Olympic judging won’t be just a technical upgrade — it will be a conversation about fairness, identity, and what it truly means to score greatness under the Olympic rings.
