You're replacing me with WHAT?

Major League Baseball has announced that the league will test the use of the automated ball-strike system (ABS) in the Arizona Fall League this season. The electronic strike zone, also commonly refereed to as "robot umpires," will be in use at all games played this season at Salt River Fields, home to two AFL teams, the Salt River Rafters and Scottsdale Scorpions.

"We are continuing to test the automated ball-strike system in the Arizona Fall League, which will be a valuable opportunity to solicit feedback from umpires, players and coaches," senior vice president of league economics and operations Morgan Sword told MLB.com.

The electronic strike zone was first tested in the independent Atlantic League this year, as part of MLB's partnership with the league. The next testing phase for the electronic strike zone is a step up in terms of major-league talent as the AFL is considered a higher level of baseball, attracting the top prospects from all 30 MLB teams every year.

"The AFL should be the place Major League Baseball tries things like this," MLB senior director of baseball and softball development Bill Bavasi, who oversees the operation of the AFL, told MLB.com. "Baseball's best personnel, physically and intellectually, can be found in this league. We will always be happy to help with projects like this."

Salt Rivers Field underwent the same installation of TrackMan, the pitch tracking system, that was used at all eight Atlantic League ballparks this season. The TrackMan software first determines the strike zone for each batter, adjusting to the batter's height. Then, as the pitch crosses the plate, the software will determine whether the pitch was a ball or a strike. 

The home plate umpire will then receive the determined call via an earpiece 

that tells them "ball" or "strike."

With the announcement, MLB is showing that it's clearly interested in the continuation of experimenting with the electronic strike zone. If MLB were to take another big step in its tests with the system, it may just be to implement use in select (or all) spring training games in 2020.

The Fall League season runs from Sept. 18 to Oct. 26.

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Rapid technological advances are enabling machines to perform a growing number of tasks traditionally done by humans. Law firms now use artificial intelligence (AI) - ­sophisticated computer programs that can learn from ­experience - to conduct contract analysis, hunt for client conflicts, and even craft litigation strategy. 

McDon­ald's is replacing drive-thru workers with order-taking AI, and cashiers with self-checkout kiosks. Walmart is automating truck unloading, while 

Cal­i­fornia farms are employing robots to harvest lettuce. 

From 1990 to 2007, robots replaced about 670,000 U.S. jobs, mostly in manufacturing; every robot introduced into a local economy claimed 6.2 jobs. 

That trend will accelerate over the next decade, as advances in mobile technology, AI, data transfer, and computing speeds allow robots to act with greater independence. 

Oxford Uni­ver­sity researchers concluded in a major 2013 study that 47 percent of Amer­i­can jobs are at "high risk" of automation within two decades. McKin­sey Global In­sti­tute came to a similar conclusion in 2017, warning that by 2030 robots will have forced 16 million to 54 million ­Americans — as many as a third of U.S. ­workers — to retrain for a new job.

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