Why MLB just pulled generative AI out of every dugout
Major League Baseball has restricted generative AI use on its league-issued dugout iPads following a review of how teams were using the devices during games.
Every dugout across Major League Baseball uses the same league-issued iPad – and starting this week, none of them are allowed to run generative AI. The restriction followed a review that found several clubs had installed custom apps turning the tablets into in-game decision tools far beyond their original design.
The devices themselves are not new. MLB first placed iPads in dugouts in 2016, tightening their use in 2021 in the wake of the league’s sign-stealing scandals. Former MLB executive Chris Marinak described the setup at the time: players could view live in-game video via a fully locked-down iPad, with no internet access, no social media and no functions beyond what the league had installed.
That changed gradually. Heading into this season, the tablets carried three sections – MLB-provided Statcast data and video, Automated Ball-Strike system data, and a ‘custom tab’ teams used for player tendencies, defensive positioning and matchup data. It was within that custom tab that some clubs began layering in generative AI, entering live game information to help predict the next pitch or suggest pitch selection.
A commissioner’s office memo obtained by The New York Times said the custom apps were providing recommendations on ‘substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.’ People familiar with the technology estimated that as many as one-third of MLB teams had used it in some form. The memo went out last month, giving clubs over a month to adjust before the rule took effect Wednesday, right as the season entered its second half.
Despite the scale of the practice, MLB’s review found no violation of existing sign-stealing or electronic-device rules, so no penalties are attached to the new policy. One front-office executive summed up the league’s reasoning to the Times as heading off future problems: ‘Gotta stop the cheating before there’s cheating now.’ Teams can still preload static information before first pitch, but live AI-generated in-game suggestions are now off the table across the league.
Wikimedia Commons/by Keith Allison
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