Strava cheats to be flagged by AI as platform rolls out new features

AI will be used to help flag irregular activities on Strava, as part of a slew of updates to the fitness and training app, announced on Thursday.

The American company said that there were "two fundamental shifts" coming: building for its female users and using artificial intelligence (AI).

Machine learning will be used to automatically pull up "irregular, improbable, or impossible activities recorded to the platform", in a bid to stop people cheating on segment leaderboards on the platform, and to make all users play fair.

AI will also be used to introduce 'Athlete Intelligence', which will use machine learning to turn subscribers’ training data into an easily digestible summary that chimes with their accomplishments and fitness goals. There will also be new 'Generative Routes', a route recommendation engine powered by AI.

In terms of "building for women", Strava has said it is doubling its efforts to get women to use the app, as data shows that women of all ages participate in sports at a far lower rate than men.

In order to do this, 'Night Heatmaps' are to be launched, which will show only activities between dusk and dawn, so users can see which paths, trails and roads are well-used in the dark, and plan accordingly.

'Quick Edit' is to be introduced, which will make it easier to make changes to an activity quickly, such as the name and privacy settings.

Strava also announced a new phase of its 'Strive for More' initiative, which was created in 2022 to promote and support women in sport. It has come together with American media company TOGETHXR to encourage more women to watch, and play, sport, and will donate $100,000 to the Alex Morgan Foundation. The U.S. soccer player's foundation aims to help women and girls in and out of sport.

A new 'Family Plan' is also set to be launched, with users able to share a plan with up to three other people, who could be friends or family, with a discount off the regular subscription plan. It will be available in select countries from this summer, with plans for it to be rolled out globally by the end of 2024.

One of the most requested features on Strava, 'Dark Mode', is set to be launched this summer too. There will be options to keep the app always dark, always light, or match device settings. 

"Strava is gaining momentum to realize our vision of a world connected through movement,” Michael Martin, the chief executive officer of Strava, said. "We are focused on two fundamental shifts to accelerate how we deliver value to 125 million people globally – building for women and leveraging artificial intelligence – which will unlock new community-and-partner-powered experiences across the platform."

Last year, Strava launched messaging, which attracted both praise and criticism.