President Biden recently issued an executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) that attempts to govern AI in the workplace and soften the impact of AI displacing workers.

How employers incorporate AI–and, in turn, how the government regulates those employers–will directly intersect with professional and collegiate sports.

While athletes, coaches and decision-makers won’t be replaced by robots and computer programs anytime soon, other sports jobs face greater near-term risk.

Analytics staff, researchers, data entry personnel, customer support specialists and team website writers are among positions that could be displaced. Their positions utilize technology and often involve number crunching and other empirical work–in other words, the kinds of functions that AI performs cheaper and perhaps better. As AI advances and handles more tasks traditionally performed by humans, sports employers will be more tempted by accompanying savings and efficiency gains.

Umpires and referees have first-hand experience with technology snatching employment duties. So-called “robot umpires,” an automatic ball-strike system, were used in Triple-A last year in a trial run. While MLB has said robot umps are unlikely to be called up to MLB ballparks in 2024, what’s in store for the rest of the decade remains to be seen.

Not all AI translates into layoffs and early retirements. As Sportico detailed last month, MSG Networks is using AI to enhance social media highlights for New York Knicks and...

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