{"id":108961,"date":"2026-07-17T01:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/108961\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T01:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:02:19","slug":"mlb-cracks-down-on-dugout-ipads-with-artificial-intelligence-fears-growing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/108961\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB cracks down on dugout iPads with artificial intelligence fears growing"},"content":{"rendered":"

MLB is cracking down on artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a report by The Athletic on Thursday, the league \u201chas effectively outlawed the growing practice of using league-provided dugout iPads to access generative artificial intelligence, which some teams had increasingly leaned upon to help shape in-game strategy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Athletic obtained a commissioner\u2019s office memo<\/a> saying teams were pushing boundaries of technology guidelines by installing custom apps that expanded the use of iPads \u201cbeyond their originally intended purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The memo stated teams were using iPads for recommendations on substitutions, pitch-calling and other in-game decisions usually made by players and coaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler holds an iPad
in the dugout during the second inning against the Orioles at
Angel Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

People with knowledge of the technology spoke on the issue candidly and told The Athletic that as much as a third of the league used dugout iPads for one of the aforementioned purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The commissioner\u2019s memo was issued June 11, giving teams a month to adjust their strategy and decision-making before the ban was put in place Wednesday for the second half of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision to crack down on iPads has caused frustration by certain front-office members tasked with innovation, with one high-ranking official saying, \u201cIt\u2019s caused quite the stir.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the tech ban didn\u2019t come with punishment, the growing trend of iPad use became urgent enough for the league to make a mid-season decision to halt the growth of the apps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGotta stop the cheating before there\u2019s cheating now,\u201d one front office executive told The Athletic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though league iPads have been around since 2016, their usage became more tightly-regulated in 2021 after sign-stealing scandals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve looks at an iPad before
the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time, we\u2019re going to be allowing players to view live in-game video via an iPad in the dugout or bullpen during the game,\u201d former league executive Chris Marinak said<\/a> before the 2021 season. \u201cThe iPads are issued by MLB and fully controlled so that the players can only use the app that we\u2019ve put on the device.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t access the internet for browsing or social media or any other kind of functions. The iPads are completely locked down and monitored with the software that we have on there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tigers pitcher Case Mize looks at an iPad during a game against the Astros. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Though in-game video is still available, it\u2019s only around on a delay, typically once an inning ends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teams and players have pushed for loosened restrictions on iPad use over time, and Jack Lambert, the director of baseball operations at Driveline Baseball, said he thinks pitch-calling is a benefit of the iPads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith someone live-scoring the game, teams could chart pitch type and location to get dynamically updating game plans,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cThose plans could determine if their approach at the plate should change as they face the lineup a second (or) third time in the game, and could also be applied to live pitch-calling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MLB is cracking down on artificial intelligence.\u00a0 According to a report by The Athletic on Thursday, the league…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,13915,897],"class_list":["post-108961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}