What motorsport taught me about AI and human judgement
- Elaine Schillinger
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
I am not someone you would normally expect to write about motorsport.
I knew very little about race engineering, tyre strategy or the huge volumes of data generated by a modern racing car.
But when I was given the opportunity to explore how artificial intelligence is being used in professional motorsport for Auto Action Premium, that lack of technical knowledge turned out to be useful.
I approached the subject with the same practical questions I hear from business leaders and communication teams.
How is AI actually being used?
How much of this technology is genuinely new?
Where does human expertise fit when A can process more information than any person possibly could?
The result was “The AI Race”, a ten-page feature published in the August 2026 edition of Auto Action Premium.
AI in motorsport is about much more than ChatGPT
One of my first discoveries was that AI in motorsport is quite different from the generative AI most of us now use to create text, images or presentations.
Racing teams have been using data analysis, statistical modelling, simulation and machine learning for years. Today, these systems can help teams predict tyre wear, calculate fuel use, test race strategies, compare driver performance and identify signs that a component may be about to fail.
Digital twins allow engineers to create virtual versions of cars and test possible changes without putting the physical vehicle on the track.
The volume and speed of the data are extraordinary. During a race, teams may need to interpret thousands of pieces of information while conditions are changing by the second.
AI helps them turn that information into possible actions much faster. But possible actions are not the same as decisions.
A human still makes the call
This was the part that interested me most.
A model might suggest the best time for a pitstop based on tyre wear, weather, fuel and the position of other cars.
But it may not fully understand that the driver has lost confidence, that communication within the team is breaking down or that something completely unexpected has happened on the track.
An experienced person still has to assess the recommendation and decide whether it makes sense in that moment.
The technology proposes. People remain accountable for what happens next.
That idea applies well beyond motorsport.
The same challenge exists in marketing and communication
AI can help us analyse research, identify patterns, draft content, compare options and work through large volumes of information. It can save time and help us see things we may otherwise miss.
But it can also produce information that is inaccurate, outdated, poorly sourced or completely wrong. It does not automatically understand the history of an organisation, the sensitivities within a relationship or how a message may affect trust.
Those decisions still require experience, context and care.
For marketing and communication professionals, our value is not based on how quickly we can produce more material. It comes from knowing what question to ask, which information to trust, what needs to be checked and whether the final result is appropriate for the audience.
AI can help us reach a possible answer faster. It cannot take responsibility for that answer.
Being an outsider helped
Coming to motorsport as a novice meant I had to question the language, clarify assumptions and work out what was genuinely useful.
That is also how I approach AI with clients and workshop participants.
People do not need another complicated explanation of the technology. They need to understand what it can help them do, where it can go wrong and what they remain responsible for.
The most useful question is rarely, “Can AI do this?”
A better question is, “What would responsible and effective use of AI look like here?”
Motorsport may operate at a speed and scale far removed from most workplaces, but the principle is the same. AI can provide more data, more options and faster analysis.
Good judgement still decides what happens next.
“The AI Race” appears in the August 2026 edition of Auto Action Premium, available on newsstands.
If your organisation is working out how to use AI responsibly in marketing and communication, I help teams build the judgement, skills and verification practices to use it well.
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