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49ers Confirm Use of AI in Draft Prep as Lynch Says Expertise Not Required

The upcoming draft will show whether those tools influence real picks.

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San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch watches drills with San Francisco 49ers director of player personnel RJ Gillen during Senior Bowl practice for the American team at Hancock Whitney Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Overview

  • The 49ers, which disclosed Monday they use AI in draft evaluations, framed it as a tool to speed up prep before this week’s NFL Draft.
  • Lynch said “you don’t need to be an expert,” likening the interface to planning a travel itinerary where you ask a question and get ideas back.
  • He predicted every NFL team will use some form of AI more over time and cited the club’s Silicon Valley location as access to tech partners and developers.
  • Media trials of consumer chatbots returned shaky advice — Google’s Gemini told the Saints to draft Kelvin Banks Jr. again, Grok pushed Carnell Tate, and ChatGPT waffled — which reinforced warnings to fact-check AI outputs.
  • The draft opens Thursday, and observers will watch whether any 49ers selections show signs of AI-informed analysis rather than AI driving the picks.