WADA to use AI to reveal irregularities in Athletes data

The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA), intends to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its fight against doping, as recently announced by organization’s director general, Oliver Niggli. Established in 1999, WADA’s mission is to ensure a doping-free sporting environment.

Niggli, who has held the role of Chief Operating Officer since 2014, says that the technology would be able to analyze the data effectively and instantly.

WADA has already started to conduct its research with the use of AI testing.

The motive is to apply algorithms to identify suspicious patterns in the vast amount of data that the anti-doping bodies have collected among athletes using AI, automatically raising red flags.

The patterns will then allow for better-targeted investigation in the athletes, if they are found suspicious by AI, they will be further subjected to appropriate drug testing.

“There’s a lot of data that is being collected in anti-doping- whether it is through the (athlete biological) passports, through the tests, through the results of the athletes,” Niggli said.

A long-term belief has dwelled within WADA about undermining their attempts to quell doping, due to organizations lack of financial and human resources.

AI is believed to segregate only the sophisticated algorithms in the doping data to spot differences, allowing the anti-doping organizations to focus on the right individuals.

“I hope that in five years we will be much better at analyzing all this data that we already have and are already collected ”, Niggli added.

“ It’s a complex world, which requires complex answers”, Niggli concluded.