Artificial intelligence in sport: A narrative review of applications, challenges and future trends.

Journal: Journal of sports sciences
Published Date: Jun 15, 2025

Abstract

This narrative review explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in sport, covering its applications, challenges and future directions across key areas such as biomechanics, performance enhancement, sports medicine, health monitoring, coaching and talent identification. AI can potentially empower athletes to optimise movement, personalise training, improve diagnostics and accelerate rehabilitation. However, integrating AI into sport presents challenges, particularly around data privacy, ethical concerns and adoption within sport organisations. This review also addresses these issues, highlighting strategies for responsible data governance and transparency. Furthermore, the review explores the promising future trends for AI in sport, which suggest a profound impact how sport is practiced and managed globally, pointing towards an era of enhanced performance, health and inclusivity.

Authors

  • Diwei Zhou
    Department of Mathematical Sciences, School of Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, U.K.
  • Justin W L Keogh
    Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Yingliang Ma
    School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics, Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
  • Raymond K Y Tong
    1 Department of Biomedical Engineering and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
  • Abdul R Khan
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
  • Nicholas R Jennings
    Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Keywords

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