TED Talks Daily – Episode Summary

Episode: How AI is discovering athletes that human scouts miss
Guest: Richard Felton-Thomas (Sports scientist, AI and biomechanics expert, co-founder of AI IO)
Date: November 5, 2025
Host: TED

Overview: Levelling the Sports Playing Field with AI

In this episode, Richard Felton-Thomas shares how Artificial Intelligence, specifically computer vision and biomechanics, is transforming the world of sports scouting. By shifting talent discovery from being region- and resource-dependent to equitable and data-driven, AI makes it possible for promising athletes everywhere — regardless of their background or location — to get noticed and developed.

Main Theme:
AI as a tool to democratize the discovery of athletic talent, reduce human and geographic bias in scouting, and develop new opportunities for young athletes through standardized data and advanced analysis.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Traditional Scouting Problem – Visibility and Opportunity

• Many assume sporting greatness only emerges from select countries or privileged areas, but “talent exists everywhere. It's finding the talent that can be the challenge.” (02:55)
• Traditional scouting is limited by geography, economics, and access:
  • Example: Chelsea FC scouts see about 2,000 players per year, while millions play.
  • Social media has put algorithms in charge of visibility, replacing some human influence with unintentional bias.

2. A Data-driven Vision for Equity

• Felton-Thomas’s journey began in biomechanics, focusing on performance and injury prevention.
• A key conversation with Darren Perrys (now AI IO’s CEO) highlighted the subjectivity and data void in youth scouting:
  • “Entire futures could be decided in one day by one person who has an opinion.” (03:50)
  • The solution: “What if we took all this lab protocols, all the data, all the equipment, and put into a set of standardized smartphone drills so any kid anywhere in the world could be tested fairly and equitably.” (04:00)

3. Building AI-driven Scouting Technology: AI Scout

• How it works:
  • Free app for kids to record themselves completing standardized drills (e.g., sprints, jumps, dribbling). (05:35)
  • Computer vision and deep learning analyze 22 body segments, reconstructing 2D video into inferred 3D motion data.
  • Extracts and scores detailed movement metrics (direction, speed, coordination, jump height, symmetry, etc.).
  • Different clubs or coaches can tailor the metrics/scoring they prioritize.
• Key Development:
  • Collaboration with Premier League clubs (Burnley FC and Chelsea FC) to design relevant drills and benchmarks.
  • Converting intuitive, hard-to-articulate scouting “art” into measurable attributes.
  • “We had to sit with them, ask the questions and turn their insights into something we could use to score.” (07:20)

4. Real-world Impact Stories

• “Ben’s Story”:
  • Testing on 50 college students revealed an undiscovered 17-year-old, Ben, who stood out “head and shoulders above the rest.”
  • Despite living near Chelsea’s training ground, he’d never been noticed by scouts; the app got him a trial, a goal on debut, a club contract, and national representation. (09:00)
• Reaching Remote Talent: India Case Study
  • Partnership with Reliance Foundation enables mass digital trials.
  • Tens of thousands of children use the app annually; the best advance to in-person Talent ID days.
  • “One player actually downloaded the app from a shared community phone, had never played organized sport and got himself a five year scholarship.” (11:10)
• Senegal and the Youth Olympics
  • IOC and Intel enlisted the platform to find talent for the Youth Olympics in Senegal.
  • Not only can talent be matched with relevant sports, but the app can recommend sports to kids based on their innate strengths. (11:55)
  • “A few days into that, thousands of kids later, 40, are now being trained ahead of those youth Olympics in things like wrestling and athletics, football.” (12:45)

5. The Future: Global Expansion and Multi-sport Support

• Multi-language and multi-cloud rollout underway.
• Major League Soccer (MLS) Next program in the U.S. already employs the system:
  • “45,000 kids right now are using the app three times per year: preseason, midseason, postseason.” (12:55)
  • Real-time, transparent data for effective tracking and coaching.
• Expansion into healthcare and multiple sports (from football to cricket), leveraging movement “primitives” that cross sporting boundaries.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Talent is universal and brilliance exists in every corner of the globe. Now, with technology and your very own smartphone, you can make that talent visible and level the playing field.”
  — Richard Felton-Thomas, (13:31)

• “Entire futures could be decided in one day by one person who has an opinion. He noted how completely devoid of data youth scouting can be.” (03:50)

• “The system didn’t see him, but we did.” (Ben’s story) (09:34)

• “We started developing these predefined drills with them. They were 10 meter sprints, they were counter movement jumps, dribbling through cones, passing, shooting… This was just genuine things that scouts would normally look at.” (06:55)

• “For our app, you can also do the opposite. Based on your strengths, it can tell you what you might be good at.” (11:55)

Key Timestamps

• [02:42] Introduction of the problem: visibility, bias, and limited opportunity
• [04:00] Spark for the solution: from biomechanics lab to equitable, mobile-based scouting
• [05:35] How AI Scout works: technology description
• [07:20] Designing the algorithm with real scouts’ expertise
• [09:00] Discovery and story of Ben: the system’s first major win
• [10:30] Expanding to India: reaching remote and underserved regions
• [11:55] Youth Olympics, Senegal: using the system to discover and match talent to the right sport
• [12:55] MLS Next program and global rollout
• [13:31] Closing remarks: universal access and future possibilities

Conclusion

Richard Felton-Thomas’s talk showcases how AI-driven, biomechanics-based talent identification is revolutionizing sports scouting. By removing historical barriers and harnessing technology for equity, the field of athletic development is being opened to hidden stars—wherever they live and whatever resources they have. The future of sports, as Felton-Thomas sees it, is “levelled” by data, with every child’s potential given a fair shot at discovery.