Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has fired back at criticism he has received, after it was revealed he and the club have been using artificial intelligence in an attempt to find an edge this pre-season.
The 2012 Brownlow Medallist said earlier in the week that he has been using it daily to assist in various tasks around the club, including opposition analysis, coaching trends and even how to best communicate with the playing group.
AFL journalist Mitch Cleary, who broke the story, even labelled it as Mitchell’s “new obsession”.
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Sam Mitchell. AFL Photos via Getty Images
“I had an important conversation with a player coming and I wanted to discuss a couple of things in his game and I just asked it (AI) questions about ‘how could I frame this question to make sure he feels this way about it’, so I use it for a bit of preparation,” Mitchell told Channel Seven on Tuesday.
“I’d love to say we have this big grand plan for it, but we’re using it on an individual basis as a collective push towards it. We know that it’s the future of technology.
“Every club is trying to use technology to get an edge, and AI is the thing in vogue.”
However, those comments have been widely panned on social media, with the initial post receiving nearly 500,000 views on X and most responses criticising the revelation.
AAP journalist Oliver Caffrey responded to the tweet with “slopball”, mocking the club’s previous slogan “Hokball”. Fox Sports’ Max Laughton tweeted “alright (sic) I’m off the Hawthorn bandwagon”.
The use of AI is an incredibly touchy subject worldwide, particularly in the workforce, with online sentiment largely sceptical about it.
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes stepped in to defend Mitchell, saying all clubs should be exploring every opportunity available to them to find an edge in performance.
“I saw that Sam Mitchell was smashed for his use of AI,” Cornes said on SEN.
“What I will say is that coaches and clubs that aren’t using AI are that far behind, it’s not funny.
“It’s a fun joke to say Sam Mitchell’s punching in (on ChatGPT), ‘How do I speak to a player?’ on AI.
“That was one example that he used, but they’re also using it with running patterns and high-speed running that the players are going at and using all sorts of different technology that probably other clubs aren’t using.
“If your club is not using AI, if your coach isn’t using it, you’re that far behind, it’s not funny.
Sam Mitchell in the Victorian State of Origin camp. AFL Photos via Getty Images
“So, for everyone who had a laugh and smashed Hawthorn, and I just wanted to say once again, they are that far ahead, I reckon, than the others.
“Now there’d be many clubs using it, but if you’re not, I reckon you’re a fair way behind.”
Mitchell then spoke to SEN later in the show, doubling down on his investment in the space.
“I was very surprised at the reaction,” the Hawthorn coach said.
“You spend all this time trying to make your footy club the best place it can be, and I did hear your comments before Kane, if you’re not attacking AI wholeheartedly… I went overseas last year and had a look at some sports clubs and businesses in New York and I could not believe how they had integrated it so cleanly.
“All these people do so much work on data and if you can make that more efficient, who wouldn’t be doing it? So I was surprised.”
Mitchell is currently in Perth as part of the coaching staff for Victoria ahead of the State of Origin revival on Saturday night.