With artificial intelligence on course to shape almost every industry, it seems that gaming will be no different. The boom in online gaming means that betting companies have a wealth of data about their clientele and their decision-making that can be utilized by A.I. technology.
Those with a stake in the industry – such as Roman Semiokhin, a serial entrepreneur and investor in gaming development and products – believe that the future relationship between artificial intelligence and gambling will likely be multi-faceted and evolve quickly. However, encouraging early signs demonstrate how A.I. technology can be a force for good when it is used in gaming.
The Danish start-up Mindway A.I. offers particular cause for optimism in this regard. The company, which was founded by researchers from Aarhus University, combines neuroscience, A.I., and human assessment to spot patterns of ‘problem gambling’.
Monitoring 7.5 million players every month, Mindway A.I. employs neuroscientists to train algorithms to spot 14 different signs of a user with an unhealthy relationship with gambling. These behaviors go far beyond the usual tell-tale signs detected by casinos – duration of play and amount of money spent – to include more subtle tells like canceled bank withdrawals and unusual playing times. These various factors form a ‘score’ from 1 to 100, or green to blood red, illustrating the extent to which the user is a problem gambler.
Crucially, this technology can spot when a player’s gambling habits are shifting from unhealthy to problematic by noticing the early signs of problematic behavior. Whereas currently, gambling companies can notice the ‘blood-red’ users whose gambling habits are obviously concerning, being able to spot previously sensible users becoming ‘problem gamblers’ is a game-changer for the industry.
Termed ‘Explainable AI’, the GameScanner platform then offers an individualized, easy way to follow up with players who are demonstrating addictive behavior. According to the company, it detects at least 87% of the problem gambling cases that would be noticed by human experts.
The rapid success of this Danish start-up in using A.I. to solve gambling addiction – a problem that has ballooned over recent years – demonstrates how A.I. can be a force for good when it comes to gambling.
A skeptic may assume that online gambling companies would have little interest in spending money in combatting betting addiction. However, gambling companies are punished for not spotting addictive behavior from their users and get minimal benefit from regular users, turning into problem gamblers who quickly become unable to use the platform.
Saying this, it is true that more capital is currently being spent on how A.I. can optimize gambling sites. Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, said that she has yet to see “an operator in the U.S. put the same amount of money and effort into developing a system for identifying and assisting at-risk players as they do developing A.I. technologies for marketing or extending credit to encourage players to return.”
This usage of A.I. technology is widely regarded as having been key to the boom in popularity of online casinos. A.I. has facilitated customized gaming with personalized interfaces that make the apps easy to use for all users. Complex algorithms can interpret patterns in gamers’ data to personalize online betting sites in a similar style to how TikTok personalizes a user’s feed based on their previous activity.
A.I. has also helped gambling companies in other, more practical ways. A.I. chatbots and online customer service tools have reduced costs and made the industry more appealing for gamers. Similarly, bookmakers have used algorithms to generate odds, further cutting costs and making odds-making more scientific than ever before.
There are some limiting factors concerning the use of A.I. in the industry, with robust data protection and privacy laws restricting the accessibility of data that can be used. However, the immense potential of A.I. in the industry has already been demonstrated.
A.I. technology will usher in a new era for gambling, with seismic changes that may even rival the invention of online gambling in shaping the trajectory of the industry. It has already been demonstrated that A.I. can serve to make gambling more entertaining and safer, not only by honing and personalizing apps but also by addressing problem gambling – an issue that affects 4-6 million people in the United States.
As A.I. optimizes the ease and enjoyment with which users can place bets, increasing the popularity of online betting, gambling companies must also ensure that the tool is harnessed to address this societal ill.
Visit Roman Semiokhin’s website for further information about this topic: https://romansemiokhin.com.
