Specialists from Liverpool collaborated in the development of a new Google artificial intelligence tool to study the best tactics to follow when taking corner kicks, according to a scientific study published this Tuesday.
At the moment, however, no player on the Anfield team has put these recommendations into practice, which an independent expert estimates still need to be verified on the pitch. Corners have the particularity of ‘freezing’ for a few moments the course of a match, which is normally characterized by fluidity. This allows for an analysis of current data and many clubs are already studying possible combinations to optimize their performance.
A DeepMinda Google subsidiary dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), revealed in the magazine Nature Communications a new assistance tool, TacticAI, which should provide suggestions especially for corner kicks. The study included five experts from Liverpool.
TacticAI has ideal combinations to defend a corner, including very precise adjustments in terms of situation and speed of execution. In the study, experts analyzed 50 possible combinations of corners and before each of them there was a blind choice between a tactic generated by artificial intelligence and another already used in training.
Counting down to kick-off on Saturday… ⏳
The record #LFCLegends crowd awaits at Anfield as we face #AjaxLegends 🤩
Less than 4⃣0⃣0⃣ tickets remain, don’t miss out 🎟️
—Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 19, 2024
90% of these experts opted for the option proposed by TacticAI, according to the study. This would be proof that the assistance tool is “capable of providing useful and concrete suggestions,” he told AFP Petar Velickovic, researcher at DeepMind and co-author of the study.
“Secret ingredient”
The AI model is based on “very rudimentary” data on players’ positions, speed, weight and height. Premier Leaguehe explains.
Typically, AI models are trained using data sets numbering in the billions. But in the case of corners, only around 10 are charged per game, and around a hundred games are played in a season.
TacticAI uses a “secret ingredient,” according to Velickovic: deep geometric learning, which virtually manipulates the orientation of the football field to multiply the number of available data points. The system should be adaptable to other moments of the game, and also to other sports, according to the researchers.
Liverpool has already collaborated on other projects with DeepMind, which was originally a young British company before being purchased by the giant Google. DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis is also “a big fan” of the legendary English club, according to the study’s first author Zhe Wang.
“We will probably see clubs use similar techniques,” believes Velickovic.
For Andy Harland, professor of Sports Technology at the British University of Loughborough, the usefulness of TacticAI during a match presents more doubts. “Its value can only be verified when it is used in games,” he told AFP, pointing out an additional effect to take into account. “If everyone uses their own artificial intelligence”, the effects could annihilate each other and neutralize each other.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
