Have you seen the 2002 movie The Time Machine? If you haven’t then the reference in the headline isn’t going to make a lick of sense. Lucky for you YouTube exists and you can watch this scene:
Seriously, go watch this movie, it’s terrible in the best way. Jeremy Irons is in it.
Anyway. If you like the idea of a human-like computerized entity guiding you through information like a librarian you’re going to love what Deloitte has set up at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the U.S. Open Championship.
I’m sorry but is this terrifying to anyone else? A seven-foot man trapped into a box whose only purpose is answering golf questions?
Deloitte had this to say about their little project with the United States Golf Association (USGA):
The USGA’s Rules team and Deloitte identified and advanced an opportunity to use AI to create a scalable way for the organization to convey the official rules of golf to the tens of millions who play the game. As the organizations discussed potential solutions, it became clear they could leverage each other’s highly specialized knowledge and unique assets. Beyond having a firm understanding of the AI market edge, Deloitte brought to the project advanced tech capabilities that could render the organizations’ shared vision into a tangible reality. The USGA had a team of subject-matter experts with an unparalleled understanding of the rules of golf, coupled with a proprietary database of years and years of past rules inquiries from golfers across the country.
USGA Rules team members realized almost immediately that while off-the-shelf AI engines might be able to provide a response to golfers’ questions, they couldn’t answer those questions with a level of accuracy equal to or greater than their own rules experts. Together, the USGA and Deloitte created a Rules AI tool, a bespoke query-and-response tool for users to ask a rules question and have confidence they were receiving the correct answer because it was based only on trusted, timely and verified USGA data.
Honestly seems like a good use of AI. Not the seven-foot guy, he can go. But the tool seems cool.
Perhaps it’s no accident that 