What is TacticAI?

About TacticAI:

• It is an AI system that can provide experts with tactical insights, particularly on corner kicks (football), through predictive and generative AI. It can be used by football team managers as an assistant for tactics. It is developed by Google’s DeepMind.
• It has been incorporated both a predictive and generative component to allow coaches to effectively sample and explore alternative player setups for each corner kick and to select those with the highest predicted likelihood of success.

Why specifically corners?

• Corner kicks are apt for strategising by leveraging AI tools, primarily because they are moments when the game is effectively frozen — and always starts from the same kind of position at the corner of the pitch while giving players an immediate opportunity to score.
• Strategies for corners are usually also decided long before the players actually go on to the pitch, so that there is no confusion on match day.
• For every corner kick, AI can help- 1) understand what will happen and what happened; and 2) how to adjust tactics to make a particular outcome happen.
• What is a corner shot in football? A corner is awarded when the ball passes over the goal line after touching a player of the defending team.