We asked AI if MLB's Biogenesis scandal was worse than NFL'S Bountygate fiasco (& its reply is going to cause some friction)
The MLB Biogenesis scandal is one of the biggest in sports, and so is the Bountygate issue in the NFL.
One involves a massive operation of illegal player enhancement drugs infiltrating the entire sport for a long time, while another involved players being paid to injure others and risk their careers.
We decided to lay the two out to Google Bard, a popular AI service. We outright asked which one was worse, and the answer might cause some issues in the sports world.
The Bountygate scandal is widely held as one of the darkest marks in sports, but Bard believes that Biogenesis beats it.
Bard believes that Biogenesis was much more egregious in the grand scheme of things. It even detailed why and gave a lot of reasons for its thinking. Here's what it said.
What AI had to say about the MLB Biogenesis scandal
The first point that Bard made was that Biogenesis had a much bigger scope. While the New Orleans Saints were the only team doing Bountygate, several teams and players, most notably Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, were doing PEDs.
Secondly, the AI said that PEDs directly enhance physical capabilities. This ultimately gave steroid users an unfair advantage that altered stats and wins and losses. Bountygate hurt people, but it didn't have as much direct impact on the scores.
Bard also mentioned that Biogenesis tarnished the entire sport from a fan perspective. Even still, fans are suspicious of players who do well. Aaron Judge's 62 home run season was not totally without steroid accusations.
Finally, Biogenesis was an awakening for a sport that had a long and complicated history with PEDs. So many players were connected to them and still are, while Bountygate started and ended when the players stopped hurting others.
Biogenesis rocked an entire sport to its core, which is why the AI firmly believes that it was a much worse scandal in terms of sports than Bountygate ever was.