Major League Baseball just did something fascinating: It banned teams from using dugout iPads for AI-powered, in-game strategy calls.
Yes, you read that correctly. Those Apple tablets you see players and coaches huddled around between innings? It turns out that about one-third of MLB teams were using them to let AI influence decisions about substitutions, pitch calling, and other strategic choices traditionally made by coaches and players.
According to Engadget’s report, “MLB Bans Using Dugout iPads for AI-Powered In-Game Strategy Calls,” the commissioner’s office sent a memo in June, and just like that, the practice was shut down. There were no punishments, just a firm “knock it off” to the teams experimenting with this approach.
Here is what makes the decision particularly interesting: Apple is already an MLB partner.
Apple has carried “Friday Night Baseball” since 2022 and works directly with MLB on production, distribution, promotion, and digital coverage. Apple is not simply a company whose tablets happen to appear in dugouts. It has a substantial commercial relationship with the league.
That changes the question.
Would MLB’s position be different if AI-powered coaching tools were part of its agreement with Apple? Would the technology be characterized as potential cheating, or would it be promoted as innovation that gives coaches better information?
Apple has built an empire by making technology feel intuitive, personal, and essential. The company is masterful at positioning technology not as a replacement for human ability, but as an enhancement of it.
Imagine the marketing language: “Augmented decision-making.” “Real-time intelligence.” “Empowering coaches with actionable insights.”
The same technology MLB is restricting could easily be packaged and promoted as the future of baseball if the commercial arrangement were different.
But here is the thing: I think MLB made the right call.
Baseball is a game of statistics. It is heaven for data enthusiasts. Every pitch, swing, and stolen base can be quantified, analyzed, and optimized. AI is brilliant at processing those numbers faster than any person ever could. In theory, there is probably a mathematically optimal decision for every moment in a game.
But baseball is not chess.
The beauty of sports is the human element. It is the gut feeling a manager gets about pulling a pitcher. It is the veteran player who recognizes that a teammate is struggling mentally, even when the statistics suggest otherwise. It is the rookie who defies the probabilities because nobody told him he could not.
When you hand those decisions to an algorithm, you are not merely optimizing for wins. You are fundamentally changing what the game is about.
I have spent enough time around startups and technology to know that innovation is not inherently good or bad. Its value depends on its application.
AI analyzing performance after a game? Fantastic.
AI helping teams identify injury patterns or optimize training schedules? Absolutely.
AI providing real-time strategic instructions during a game? That crosses a line.
One unnamed front-office official told The Athletic, “Gotta stop the cheating before there’s cheating now.” The quote captures the strange moment we are living through. Sports leagues are still determining where analysis ends, assistance begins, and technological assistance becomes an unfair competitive advantage.
This is not the first time gatekeepers have struggled with new technology. Traditional journalists once objected to “anyone with a keyboard” being able to publish. Radio professionals dismissed podcasting. Established industries often resist change until they discover how to commercialize it.
Sports, however, are different. The entire point is human competition. We do not watch baseball to see which organization has the best algorithm. We watch human beings make brilliant plays, questionable decisions, terrible mistakes, and occasionally achieve the impossible.
MLB’s automated ball-strike system provides a useful comparison. That technology is designed to improve the accuracy of an objective call. It helps determine whether a pitch crossed a defined strike zone. It does not decide whether a manager should pull the pitcher, call for a bunt, or send a runner.
That is the right distinction.
Technology should improve the information available to people without taking responsibility away from them. The best use of AI in sports is not to make decisions for coaches and players. It is to help them make better decisions themselves.
Apple’s existing relationship with MLB makes this issue more interesting, not less. MLB embraces Apple as a media and technology partner while limiting how Apple’s devices can be used inside the dugout. That is not necessarily contradictory. It is evidence that baseball is attempting to establish a boundary between presenting the game and controlling it.
The real test will come when someone offers MLB enough money to move that boundary.
For now, baseball has made the correct decision. Keep AI in the analytics room. Keep judgment, instinct, accountability, and the consequences of being wrong in the dugout.
Pass the peanuts and Cracker Jack. Hold the algorithms.