I don't know a lot about artificial intelligence, except that it's really, really thirsty. Like if you ask it who you should start at quarterback, a marathon runner doesn't get that little cup of water people hand them while they're running. I’m not sure why it needs that much water (I'm kidding. You don't have to comment that it's for cooling) but it's necessary if we want to use it for fantasy football.
But how do you plan to use it? And are there uses you haven't considered? I have some ideas for you.
I think most people want AI to evaluate talent or make predictions for NFL teams, or their fantasy team, or decide the best player to start given multiple variables like trends, injuries, weather, etc. You know, stuff to help you win. And that's really important, but not really why you read this column. I leave the expert stuff to the experts, like Ian and Andy. For the last 25+ years (seriously) I've written about other things, like advice to make the game more fun and quality of life improvements for your team and your league.
So with that in mind, here are some ways you can use AI to improve your fantasy football experience that doesn't involve player evaluations or drafting advice of any kind.
AI can run teams for you. Do you want to expand your league, but don't have good ownership candidates? AI can actually draft and manage a team (or multiple teams) for the entire season. It won't pay an entry fee, but it also can't win money so that part is kind of a wash. But it can be a valid opponent that will make waiver pickups, take players out for bye weeks and make roster decisions like a real person.
(I'm not guessing, by the way. AI said it can do this stuff when I asked).
It might require a "caretaker" person to input what it wants to do, and that sounds like an appropriate job for the commissioner who has fewer things to actually do each year. But it can behave like a human manager (or better, since it won't check out mentally when it's out of contention). You can give it different levels of expertise or make it a "homer" manager that favors the local team, or make it take a lot of risks, or whatever your league wants.
You want to get really weird with it? If you input previous drafts, it can mimic the behavior of a manager who isn't in the league anymore. If a beloved friend passed away, AI can project how they would draft in 2026 and have that team compete in your league based on their previous decisions and tendencies. I'm not saying you'd want to do that. Maybe forget I brought it up. I'm just saying that AI can help you expand your league in creative ways. Or create a new league if only a handful of you want to play together. Six great friends don’t have to look for six strangers in order to play together.
AI can be your commissioner. It can make unbiased rulings based on your unique rulebook, it can suggest new rules, it can offer remedies when there's a dispute and it can anticipate problems before they happen. Simply asking AI to evaluate your existing rules can identify issues before they actually come up. And as a bonus, it can predict how a new proposal would change the league before you even vote on it.
AI can take over abandoned teams. Remember when I mentioned human managers disappearing when they’ve lost too many games? Now some buffoon can't ruin your league because they’ve been eliminated from playoff contention. You don't have to beg anyone to stay active. If they've lost interest, the team gets run in an unbiased manner and keeps things competitive for the rest of you. No more easy wins at the end of the year to determine a playoff spot. That's worth a whole gallon of water right there.
AI can help you torture yourself playing "what if?" What if you had selected Player A instead of Player B on draft day? What if you never cut that running back who earned a starting gig? What if you actually picked the right bench guy even half the time? What if you had just stuck with one kicker and/or defense instead of always picking the wrong one off the waiver wire? We love to wonder how our poor decisions or bad luck have destroyed our chances of success. Now you can find out exactly how much you hurt yourself, down to a fraction of a point! I’m not sure this is a good thing to do (I know it isn’t), but fantasy managers often spend a lot of time lamenting situations that didn’t work out. It’s a waste of time, but now you can waste less time and do it more efficiently!
AI isn’t going away, and of course you can use it for advice on who to draft or start. But it can actually do some other things to make the experience better. At the very least, ask it to evaluate your league’s rules and keep it in mind if you get stuck with an abandoned team later in the year. However you decide to use it, I hope it helps you win as well.
Do you plan to use AI this year, and if so, how? Have you had success with it? What pitfalls do you see in relying on it too much? Share your thoughts below.
