With 48 teams and 104 games across 16 host cities and three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico), this year’s FIFA World Cup is projected to be the biggest sporting event ever in terms of attendance, revenue and global viewership.
本届世界杯由美、加、墨三国16座城市承办，共有48支球队、104场比赛，预计将成为史上规模最大、观众人数最多、收入最高且全球收视率最高的体育赛事。
It also promises to be the most technologically advanced, and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular will touch almost all aspects of the tournament.
本届赛事在技术层面也承诺达到前所未有的高度，尤其是人工智能（AI）将触及赛事的几乎方方面面。
This reflects a growing use of AI in soccer and across elite sport, with tools being applied not only to optimise athlete performance but also enhance match officiating, event security and fan experience.
这反映了AI在足球乃至精英体育中日益广泛的应用，其工具不仅用于优化运动员表现，还用于提升比赛执裁、赛事安全和球迷体验。
Let’s look at how AI will be used in the World Cup, who may benefit and what risks could emerge.
让我们看看AI将在世界杯中如何应用，谁将受益，以及可能出现哪些风险。
In our review of AI use in soccer we found various ways it can assist on the pitch: tools to support player, team and match evaluation; forecasting of match outcomes and in-game events (such as expected goals and assists, corners, passes, opposition tactics); monitoring athlete workload; injury prediction and detection; talent scouting.
在我们对足球中AI应用的综述中，发现其在球场上的辅助方式多种多样：支持球员、球队和比赛评估的工具；预测比赛结果和场内事件（如预期进球和助攻、角球、传球、对手战术）；监控运动员负荷；伤病预测与检测；以及球探工作。
At the World Cup, coaches will use AI alongside more conventional data to inform how they approach each game, including what opposition strengths they need to negate and what weaknesses they can exploit.
在世界杯上，教练们将把AI与更传统的数据结合使用，以指导他们如何应对每场比赛，包括需要抵消对手哪些优势，以及可以利用对手哪些弱点。
Similarly, high performance staff will use AI to monitor player health and wellbeing, and forecast potential injuries.
同样，高性能团队（教练组/体能师）将利用AI监控球员的健康和福祉，并预测潜在伤病。
The dreaded penalty shoot-out is one area where AI will have a direct influence. Teams will use AI to synthesise historical data to provide insights on goalkeepers and penalty takers’ likely strategies.
令人畏惧的点球大战是AI将产生直接影响的一个领域。各队将利用AI综合历史数据，提供关于守门员和点球手可能策略的见解。
A key benefit is the speed at which these analyses can be undertaken. What used to take days of old-fashioned human legwork can now be done in hours, even for entire squads.
一个关键好处是这些分析的速度。过去需要耗费数天传统人力跑腿的工作，现在几小时内即可完成，甚至是对整个球队进行分析。
Should a game go to a shootout, AI could very likely influence the winning kick or save.
如果比赛进入点球大战，AI极有可能影响制胜的射门或扑救。
While semi-automated offside technology was introduced in the 2022 World Cup, it will be enhanced through the addition of AI-enabled 3D avatars of every player. The aim is to improve referees’ decision accuracy through the use of more precise body dimensions of the players involved.
虽然半自动越位技术在2022年世界杯上已引入，但将通过增加每个球员的AI驱动3D化身（avatar）而得到增强。目的是通过使用涉及球员更精确的身体尺寸来提高裁判判罚的准确性。
The avatars will also be used to provide more engaging content when Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decisions are shown to fans. Rather than seeing only generic figures, fans will now see realistic avatars incorporating players’ faces, kit and even their hairstyle.
当向球迷展示视频助理裁判（VAR）的判罚时，这些化身还将用于提供更引人入胜的内容。球迷不再只看到通用的图形，而是将看到融合了球员面部、球衣甚至发型的逼真化身。
Another use in match officiating will be referee view technology, which uses body cameras to capture in-game footage from the referee perspective. AI will be used to stabilise images, with the emphasis on enhancing the fans’ immersive experience.
比赛执裁中的另一个用途是裁判视角技术，它使用身体摄像头从裁判的视角捕捉比赛画面。AI将用于稳定图像，重点在于增强球迷的沉浸式体验。
Crowd management and logistics are other areas where AI will be deployed. FIFA has built an “Intelligence Command Centre” – which will connect data across matches, venues and broadcasters – as well as digital twin models of stadiums to monitor and forecast crowd behaviour.
人群管理和物流是AI部署的其他领域。国际足联已建立“情报指挥中心”——连接比赛、场馆和广播商的数据——以及球场的数字孪生模型，以监控和预测人群行为。
This will aim to ensure crowd-related issues such as bottlenecks are controlled.
这将旨在确保控制人群相关问题，如瓶颈现象。
While there are many benefits, a broad spectrum of risks will need to be managed.
虽然有许多好处，但需要管理广泛的风险谱系。
Key concerns with AI tools are substandard outputs, and loss of skills and meaningful work for humans. To combat this, teams should ensure AI is only used to support human decision making, not replace it.
AI工具的主要担忧是输出质量不达标，以及人类技能和有意义工作的丧失。为了应对这一问题，各队应确保AI仅用于支持人类决策，而非取代它。
The article’s framing of AI as a neutral tool for 'optimisation' and 'safety' is seductive but incomplete. It highlights benefits like injury prediction and crowd management but buries the ethical weight of 'digital twin models' and 'referee view technology' in the fine print. We must demand transparency: who owns this data, and how is it governed? Without robust integrity frameworks, we risk normalising surveillance under the guise of fan experience.
文章将 AI 描绘成一种中立的‘优化’和‘安全’工具，这种叙事很诱人，但并不完整。它强调了伤病预测和人群管理等好处，却把‘数字孪生模型’和‘裁判视角技术’的道德重量埋在了小字里。我们必须要求透明度：谁拥有这些数据，如何监管？如果没有健全诚信框架，我们可能会以球迷体验为名，将监控常态化。