Skeptics raised their eyebrows when Major League Soccer (MLS) announced plans to deploy AI-powered tools in its recruiting program starting at the tail end of this year. The MLS will be working with London-based startup ai.io, and its ‘aiScout’ app to help the league discover amateur players around the world. This unprecedented collaboration is the first time the MLS will use artificial intelligence in its previously gatekept recruiting program, forcing many soccer enthusiasts and AI fans to reckon with the question: has artificial intelligence finally entered the mainstream in the professional soccer industry?