Artificial intelligence has changed the look and feel of the FIFA World Cup, according to a report from Korean outlet 매일경제 carried on Google News. The report says AI has been used to help make offside decisions at the tournament.
The offside rule is one of soccer's most consequential and most contested calls. A player is penalized for being ahead of the last defender at the moment the ball is played — a judgment that can hinge on a matter of centimeters and a fraction of a second, and one that referees and assistant referees have historically had to make in real time, with the naked eye, while the play is still moving.
That is precisely the kind of decision machines are suited to assist with: a geometric question about where bodies were at a specific instant. 매일경제's framing — that AI has changed the appearance of the World Cup — suggests the technology's effect is visible to viewers, not just buried in the officiating booth.
The available source material is brief, and it does not detail which specific systems were deployed, which matches or tournament they covered, or how officials and players responded. Those details would matter for assessing how far the shift goes. What the source does establish is the direction of travel: the most-watched sporting event on the planet is now officiated with algorithmic assistance in at least one high-stakes area of the game.
This matters because the World Cup is a global proving ground — when AI takes on a visible role in deciding who wins the biggest matches in sport, it normalizes machine judgment for billions of people who will never read an AI policy paper.