It’s something that everyone hears about now and our best sports betting sites are already using in a variety of ways: artificial intelligence.
AI is fast becoming a part of the US sports betting landscape, and more operators are expected to embrace its possibilities in the future. Sites like SportsLine are using AI modeling to provide the most accurate odds and betting predictions possible, allowing AI data models to consider thousands of data points like past player performances, weather, and injuries to make connections between this data and produce the most accurate predictions. These AI models can simulate data conditions thousands of times to give the most likely result.
SportsLine is not the only operator using this technology, and with increased usage has come more headlines. For example, popular US payment provider Skrill published an article on the growth of AI predictions in sports betting.
The article outlined how AI is currently being used, the opposition and risks of this technology, and where the technology may go in the future.
How AI is being used
Several leading US sportsbook operators are already implementing AI technology to improve the sports betting experience. SharpLink CEO Robert Phythian revealed in a column published by Sportico that BetMGM uses its C4 engine to provide personalized betting suggestions, which keep players engaged with the platform for longer.
He commented, “Fans will be presented with a personalized experience based on the preferences they either explicitly state in their profile or implicitly demonstrate by their behavior and consumption patterns.”
Meanwhile, according to an interview with DraftKings co-founder and President of Global Product and Technology, Paul Liberman, DraftKings has been using AI for over a decade, testing out systems with its Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) as far back as 2013.
He said “We’ve been using it for pricing our odds feeds when you go and make a bet,” before mentioning how the company uses the technology to improve its personalization, including changing widgets and quick links to each customer.
However, the company has expanded its use of AI technology to include influencing its marketing strategies and scanning DraftKings code to check for errors before software engineers do. The company is also using AI to simplify some of its procedures, saving days of work.
Problems with AI
While more accurate odds and better information for bettors sound positive, many experts have highlighted some issues with the integration of AI into sports betting. UNLV associate professor and clinical psychologist Shane Kraus believes the technology may lead to an increase in problem gambling.
He said, “AI in the gambling space tailors incentives and better understands a player’s interest, so they’re ensuring the options that they are feeding to a player are going to resonate with them,” Kraus said. “It’s going to want to, A, make them engage and, B, stay on longer again.”
Timothy Fong, co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, also highlighted the concern of keeping players engaged for a long time.
He explained how this can impact those already struggling with gambling addiction, saying, “It’s really the use of AI that creates predatory scenarios, where people who are already vulnerable because of mental health issues or a gambling addiction could be manipulated or targeted without their knowledge.”