The conversation dominating baseball this season isn’t about a blockbuster deal or playoff predictions. It’s about something far more fundamental: who, or what, should be making the calls that define America’s pastime.
Major League Baseball is experimenting with an automated ball-strike system, allowing players to contest calls with radar technology. The system has been used at the minor league level since the 2021 season and was implemented in Spring Training and the All-Star Game this year.
Yet some players, managers, and fans are pushing back, worried that the introduction of robo-umpires might eventually kill the soul of the game. An anonymous MLB player poll by The Athletic, conducted earlier this year, showed that over 60% of players were against a robo-ump calling balls and strikes.
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The automated ball-strike system operates based on challenges now, but many say its introduction will eventually lead the league to adopt fully automated game calls. How far will we take the technology? In theory, we could just plug everyone’s stats into an algorithm and simulate the game entirely. The outcome might be more “accurate,” but would it still be baseball?
The concern reveals something telling, not just about baseball, but about how we relate to technology. Even when machines outperform people on paper, we hesitate. Why? Because precision alone doesn’t satisfy us. We still value the nuance, empathy, and unpredictability that only human judgment can offer.
A familiar dilemma in healthcare
The tension between advancements in technology and human connection aren’t unique to baseball, they are playing out every day in healthcare.
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Digital tools have transformed medication support: algorithms flag nonadherence, chatbots handle basic patient questions, and automated systems send refill reminders. On paper, it is a win: scalable, efficient, and consistent.
And yet, something essential risks being lost in the handoff. A recent study found that both patients and healthcare professionals expressed concerns about the emotional limits of AI. Participants worried that AI might simulate empathy without truly understanding human emotion, creating a false sense of connection. One provider put it bluntly: “Patients may actually emotionally develop a relationship with this AI… just actually never see anybody.” In the pursuit of optimization, are we forgetting what patients actually need?
The irreplaceable power of human connection
Sports remind us that perfection isn’t the point, connection is. What moves us isn’t the flawless execution of rules, but the human moments: the hesitation before a pitch is called, the missed calls we debate for days, the emotion that can’t be automated. Healthcare, like baseball, is ultimately a human experience. And no matter how advanced the tools, patients still want to feel something real: that someone sees them, hears them, and cares.
In healthcare, precision matters, but it’s only part of the equation. When someone is diagnosed with a chronic condition or starting a new medication, they’re often facing a host of emotions including fear, confusion, and isolation. What they need in that moment isn’t just the correct information, it’s reassurance. A sense that someone is walking alongside them.
That’s where real support lives and real change happens. The most effective support doesn’t come from a perfectly timed reminder; it comes from a moment of connection. A voice that reassures. A conversation that motivates. An experience that feels human, not clinical.
Where empathy meets innovation
Whether baseball or healthcare, the real question isn’t if we should choose between humans and technology; it’s that we’ve been thinking about the choice wrong. The question isn’t whether robots can call strikes more accurately than umpires, or whether AI can process patient data faster than doctors. Of course they can. The better question is: What kind of support actually moves people (or America’s favorite pastime) forward?
The future of healthcare (and baseball) isn’t fully automated. It’s orchestrated, combining the consistency of smart technology with the irreplaceable empathy of human engagement. That’s how we build trust. That’s how we change behavior. And that’s how we make healthcare work better — one human connection at a time.
Photo: AlexLMX, Getty Images
Michael Oleksiw is a corporate entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology, product development, and creating exceptional user experiences. Throughout his diverse career, he has hand-crafted bicycles, commercialized software for clinical trials, launched groundbreaking CME technologies for doctors, and introduced leading fashion technology products to the world’s top brands. He has also built offshore development centers, and, for over a decade, he continues his mission at Pleio to build frictionless, personalized solutions to address the emotional barriers patients face in their medication journeys.
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