Algorithmic authority and the epistemology of Olympic values: toward a theory of situated Olympism

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly capable of generating coherent discourse about sport, ethics, and values. While much of the existing literature has examined its implications for education, less attention has been paid to the philosophical questions it raises about knowledge and meaning in sport. Olympic values – such as respect, excellence, friendship, and peace – are often treated as universal ethical principles. However, when mediated through generative AI systems, these values risk becoming standardised linguistic outputs detached from the embodied and relational practices through which they acquire meaning. This article examines how AI-generated discourse reconfigures epistemic authority in sport by producing fluent but decontextualised representations of ethical concepts. Drawing on philosophy of sport, epistemic justice, and critical theory, it argues that artificial intelligence intensifies longstanding tensions between ethical universalism and situated forms of ethical meaning. In response, the article introduces Situated Olympism as a philosophical framework that understands values not as abstract principles but as practices emerging through embodied interaction, social relations, and contextual interpretation. The article contributes to the philosophy of sport by offering a critique of algorithmic authority and advancing a situated account of ethical knowledge in sport.