The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is upon us and its impacts are already being seen with the significant waves of disruption that it has been casting in various industries and sectors. Many businesses are scrambling to capitalize on this new frontier in a bid to understand and utilize it especially in the field of technology. However, these are not the only people who have their sights set on artificial intelligence.
The gambling industry and the online casino operators have not been left behind and they are now part and parcel of the AI transformation or revolution. This has been the case for quite some time – artificial intelligence and casino gaming had been paired as early as 20 years ago when IBM’s Deep Blue computer which was considered to be the epitome of artificial intelligence at the time, beat renowned pro chess player Garry Kasparov 3.5 to 2.5 in a six-game match.
Last year, artificial intelligence once again demonstrated the sheer power it holds as far as gambling is concerned. This was elaborated by Carnegie Mellon’s Libratus AI which (or who) won several thousands of poker hands over master poker players in Heads-Up No. In many ways, it may seem like this how big it can get, but the truth is, the influence of artificial intelligence on casinos and how they operate is just beginning.
Re-imagining User Experience and Protection Against Addiction
The gambling industry has always been at the helm of analyzing and studying customer behavior. In many cases, this is often done through programs that involve the utilization of sophisticated systems that are aimed at deriving meaningful information that will help the business understand their customers better. The data that can be collected is so diverse that eventually the opportunities to collect and leverage this data explodes when it is taken to the online space. As it stands, more people gamble online than in brick-and-mortar casinos.
With AI, casinos can now tap into the benefits of this valuable insights to take users experience (UX) to higher levels. AI allows for this by making it possible to easily track the activity all online casino customers based on their user accounts instead of relying on data from fractions of the total number of players.
Other than tracking customers, artificial intelligence has been used to further improve user experience (UX) customer service touch points. New breeds of AI have proven to be way better than impersonal and often frustrating customer service bots that were part of many online casinos.
Also, thanks to AI, operators can now detect and prevent gambling addiction through the analysis of player behavior that may be problematic or erratic spending. Evidently, artificial intelligence is going to leave a mark on the gambling industry as a whole.
Leveling the Playing Field
What this implies is that AI is a great tool for rooting out unscrupulous players for the good of both other players and the operator using insightful data analysis and machine learning capabilities. AI has been able to quickly identify and eradicate cheating schemes. Malicious individuals will still always find ways to cheat, including their own versions of AI but in the end, the playing field will be evened out which is the most important thing.
