It would not improve soccer in my opinion. Sometimes the ref needs to not whistle a hand ball. It is a judgment call. And sometimes referees need to whistle an attempt at hand ball. To help with the spirit of the game. Good luck with AI being good at that.

>if we could remove the human element and replace it with infallible decision making AI would it improve sport?

Probably for some sports and for some elements of other sports. I've thought about this in regards to an umpire's strike zone in baseball. If the strike zone were the same every single time, this might tip the scales in one direction (probably batters). Let's say it advantaged offense even moreso, do higher scoring games make better sport, or are they more enjoyable to watch?

I dont know, but personally I've always enjoyed the slightly random element of the strike zone.

It is a big deal because crowd size varies widely between clubs. Big clubs have so many fans that even in their away matches they have comparable crowds with their opponents.

That actually is potentially a big deal in soccer, because if both teams win their home games instead of drawing, for example, they both come out ahead on points.