NEW YORK, July 17 — Major League Baseball has taken a firm step to keep artificial intelligence off the field, restricting how teams use iPads in the dugout during games. The league blocked access to a custom tab on the tablets beginning Wednesday night, when the second half of the season got underway. The move follows a June 11 memo from MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword to general managers, assistant GMs, and video coordinators.
The memo, first reported by The Athletic and obtained by the Associated Press, spelled out the concern plainly. In many cases, Sword wrote, the custom tab had allowed teams to use the dugout iPads beyond their originally intended purpose.
The tablets, which give players and coaches access to video and league-provided data, had become a tool for generating recommendations on substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.
Preserving the human element
MLB’s restriction is aimed squarely at preserving the human element in baseball decision-making. The custom tab had effectively expanded the dugout iPad into a real-time analytics engine, one that could influence decisions that have historically been the province of players and coaches. The league-provided data and video access remain available on the tablets.
What teams have lost is the ability to run other programs through that custom tab — programs that could process information and deliver strategic recommendations mid-game.
What the memo said
Sword’s memo did not mince words. The custom tab, he wrote, had expanded the use of the dugout iPads beyond their originally intended purpose. The tablets were meant to give players and coaches quick access to video review and league data — not to serve as a backdoor for AI-driven decision-making.
The restriction took effect at the start of the second half, giving teams no grace period after the All-Star break. It is a decisive move from a league that has embraced analytics in front offices and player development but appears wary of letting algorithms make split-second calls during games.
For the players and coaches who have to make decisions in real time, it means the dugout remains a space where human judgment — not machine calculation — holds the final word. As the second half of the season unfolds, all eyes will be on how teams adapt. The iPads are still there, still showing video and data.
But the custom tab is gone. The game, for now, belongs to the players and coaches who play it.
