Artificial intelligence derived from its inception in the 1950’s, when scientists first developed the idea of artificial beings possessing the ability to mimic human behavior. Since then we have witnessed IBM’s Deep Blue become the first computer to beat a grandmaster chess champion, a question-answering system winning a TV quiz show, and the use of AI in almost every sphere imaginable.
Our relationship with AI is always evolving to the extent where the technology applies to almost every facet of our lives. The reality is that almost every industry you can think of are increasing their utilization of AI mainly to assist with the data analysis technology that they also use.
Indeed, the very presence of artificial intelligence and machine learning can be found in all kinds of fields from agriculture and farming and healthcare to retail, security/surveillance and sports data analysis.
But how are AI and machine learning being used within iGaming and the online gambling industry? There are a couple of key ways in which AI is improving the industry and helping it to run smoothly for both the platform provider at one end and the consumer at the other end.
Customization for a personal gambling experience
Every online gamer and gambler loves an experience which is personalized to them and the industry is using AI in order to do this. By mapping your gaming patterns from first visit, online gambling sites and casinos can provide you with specific offers and bonuses on activities they know you enjoy – making each further visit fun.
The same technology is also used to provide offers on sporting events taking place in the locality or region you are accessing the platform from – and if this is an event you are physically attending yourself, the ability to place a wager on the outcome (or one of many outcomes in the game) an all-round immersive experience.
High quality customer service provision
The improvement from those frustrating automated telephone calls with virtual customer care agents advising you to key this number or that, or to constantly repeat your three-word phrase into the receiver in order to find the answer you are looking for, to now having smart real-time Chatbots has been immense.
Nowadays you can access advanced bots that can better address your requirements of support as they can instantaneously access your gamblnig habits on their platform to better personalize your support. The very nature of online gambling means the industry requires the best customer support and AI now provides the customer with the best possible support. So much so that many online gambling platforms have decided to use this technology in their systems for a far more complete, near-human experience.
Looking after the user’s health and wellbeing
AI in the online gambling industry is used to benefit both the platform provider and the customer – and there are many online gambling sites that are looking to machine learning to better improve their understanding of customer’s habits in order to prevent harmful gambling. The idea that AI and machine learning can be used by gambling platforms to detect patterns of behavior of individual users is growing in the industry. If companies can identify problem gambling early then they can help manage and stop it from escalating.
The ability to use AI and machine learning to prevent gamblers from falling into addiction is powerful and the vast majority of gambling operators are looking to this kind of technology in order to boost their moral standing and reputation.
Saving on personnel costs
So far we have seen a lot of aspects in which the online gambling industry adopts AI technology to benefit the player, but how do online casinos and sportsbooks benefit directly from AI? Easily the most obvious answer is by reducing costs associated with human input.
Brick and mortar casinos in the United States will employ live table dealers, bar and restaurant staff, security teams and of course entertainment acts that have to be paid. Although they use development gurus and designers to provide their content, online casinos do not require any of the aforementioned who operate in in-person casinos – rendering an instant saving in operating costs.
The AI in live poker tournaments and online casino games automatically assigns the numbers of online players per table, deals out cards at random automatically and operates the games in exactly the same way a human being would do. And all 24 hours a day, seven days a week – ensuring a huge saving on paying out wages.
Then there are things like the running costs of the buildings – from security cameras to electricity and water bills. It’s a huge world of savings moving all of their operations online where none of these things are ever going to be required. See some casino resources on Fliptroniks.
Smarter use of “big data”
Another way for online casinos to use the technology is working out how best to use the same methods they use in personalizing the customer experience – as we mentioned above – in order to benefit from it themselves. Whereas land-based casinos closely studied behavior patterns of regular gamblers, online gambling websites instead use AI to gather information on their users including data behind why players may only play certain games and not others. They can also discover what types of games most of their users prefer to play in order to gain a competitive advantage over rival platforms.
Finally, although perhaps less obviously, the companies can use the information they gather on players to maximize profits by pointing their users in the direction of certain games.
So-called “big data” is somewhat of a concern across all industries, not least the gamblnig industry, especially with concerns over data leaks, but the AI behind this is vastly improved to offer an overall all-round better experience for the gambler and key information for the provider.
Artificial Intelligence has proven to be hugely beneficial to all within this industry, and its use is only ever going to increase. Who knows where the industry will go next with AI input? The opportunities are endless.
