Don’t restrict AI in sports, ensure fair access, Hong Kong lawmaker urges

Hong Kong’s lawmaker for the sports sector has urged authorities to focus on ensuring fair access to AI rather than attempting to restrict its use, arguing that the technology has increasingly reshaped athlete development and competitions.
Speaking at a World Economic Forum panel in mainland China’s Dalian on Tuesday, Kenneth Fok Kai-kong said that artificial intelligence (AI) was transforming sports in ways that differed from past technological advances.
Such changes had made it difficult to regulate the technology’s use and also raised questions about fairness, he said.
“It’s not like wearing a suit or not wearing a suit. You can’t see it in competition,” he said during a discussion on the future of sport, business and technology.

Fok, who represents Hong Kong’s sports, performing arts, culture and publishing sectors in the Legislative Council, said the issue was less about limiting the use of AI and more about ensuring athletes and countries had equal access to the new technology.
“Some nations may not have the newest and the best models. They might not have the newest and the best tools,” he said, adding that international federations and Olympic bodies should study AI’s impact on performance and address any resulting differences.
Fok cited the now-banned “sharkskin” swimsuits as an example, saying sports authorities would need to consider how AI could affect competitive balance.
The swimsuits helped swimmers break a string of world records in the early 2000s, before concerns emerged over their fairness and accessibility.
The lawmaker noted that sports had become a major economic sector, with governments increasingly viewing major events as drivers of growth and tourism.
The discussion also touched on how technology was changing the relationship between athletes and fans.

Daniel Chan Ho-yuen, Hong Kong’s first para badminton player to compete at the Paralympics, said advances in broadcasting and digital platforms had helped raise the profile of para-athletes and allowed them to tell their stories directly to the public.
Former Norwegian Paralympian Birgit Skarstein said AI and social media had made it easier for athletes to build personal brands and connect with audiences, but warned that greater visibility could also expose them to online harassment and abuse.
Fok said policymakers should focus on preparing the younger generation, so they could use AI effectively, arguing that creativity and critical thinking would become increasingly important as the technology developed.