Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary on Tuesday said the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) could weaken the open feedback loops through which people learn, contrasting it with the internet’s earlier role in democratising access to information.

Speaking at a sporting industry event, Chaudhary said the internet had enabled people to search for information, participate in forums and engage in an iterative process of asking questions, receiving answers and returning with further questions. With AI models increasingly being developed through proprietary, siloed systems, however, that feedback and learning process was becoming less visible, he said.

He said the issue extended beyond technology, with feedback loops within families also weakening as communication between children, parents and elders declined. Against this backdrop, Chaudhary said sports remained an important space where young people could make mistakes, interact with others and learn through repeated feedback.

“The only field where you are still allowed to make mistakes and learn from it” was the sports field, he said, adding that the iterative learning and team-building involved in sport should not be treated as incidental to participation.

Chaudhary’s comments came during a wider discussion on the impact of AI on sports, including coaching, refereeing and scouting. He said AI was likely to change these roles but would also create new opportunities, citing young entrepreneurs using AI for sports scouting as an example.

“Everyone is now understanding the impact (of AI). It is still early days, but even in sports, it is already having an impact – from refereeing to coaching to scouting. So many different aspects, but one thing is for certain. Things are going to change faster than ever before. And where there is change, there is a positive impact also. So a lot of new avenues will come up,” he added.

Chaudhary also flagged a shortage of coaches and sporting infrastructure in schools, calling these key gaps that needed to be addressed to broaden participation in sports. He said the government was working with states to augment sporting facilities, but argued that greater availability of coaches and access to basic infrastructure were essential to building a stronger sporting ecosystem.

Chaudhary also urged industry to play a larger role in developing the sports ecosystem, including by nurturing grassroots talent, supporting infrastructure and working with educational institutions on skills and training. He said corporate participation should go beyond conventional CSR spending and that companies could work more closely with academia, industry bodies and the government to develop sporting talent and address skill gaps across the sector.