Betting firms are turning to AI to help the gaming machine addicts “cool off”

UK has been one of the countries that has been trying to promote responsible gambling. Recently an inquiry conducted by a group of politicians from different parties was revealed to the public. The inquiry shed light on a lot of practices in the gambling industry that could use some improvements. They also proposed their own suggestions for promoting responsible gambling. Amidst the publication of this inquire the news about gaming machines that will use AI came out.

The purpose of installing AI in their machines is that it allows for the machines to spot addictive behavior using a number of metrics. If the machine identifies the player’s behavior as addictive the machine will not let the player continue to give them some time to cool off before they continue to work. This new initiative will not depend on AI only, although it is a starting point.

Attention towards the gaming industry is also caused by online casino games and different gaming venues gaining popularity at a fast rate, bringing about the need to think outside the box when it comes to regulations.

The Anonymous Player Awareness System (APAS) will track the players during the whole game, looking for evidence of them chasing loses or displaying some other qualities of addictive gambling like speeding up or spending too long on the machine. If such behavior is detected the managers of the casino will get notified about such behavior so they can be extra attentive to that person.

The new technology was created by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) to try and combat the rising levels of problem gamblers that can be found basically at any age group but are prominent in the younger generations. This is also in the spirit of the recent inquiry and the call for tougher legislation around real-life and online casinos.

Wes Himes, BCG Interim chief executive said that he sees this as an opportunity to champion the highest standards and share best practices on safe betting and gaming, with the hopes that these measures will be seen as a sign of intent. With this initiative, BGC hopes to restore public trust, at least partially and the group is looking forward to further betting and gaming initiatives across the industry.

AI works based on the algorithm. If the algorithm determines some addictive behavior it will automatically lock you out of for “cooling off period” of at least 30 seconds. This is when the managers come into play to make sure the cool off period goes by as smoothly as possible. According to the initiative when the person is being locked out of the same safer gambling warning will be immediately displayed on the machine’s screen.

This new addition will firstly be introduced only in Britain, specifically in 8500 betting shops that include William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power. But it’s obvious that this new initiative has great potential and if it manages to bring positive results it won’t be too long before all the gaming machines across Britain and the world will be applying this technology to their gaming machines.

The 30 second cooling period will be specifically for addictive behavior but the firms are also looking to improve the experience of those who may not be addicted but are starting to enter a more risky zone. 20 second cooling-off periods will be introduced for those who have been playing at the same machine for more than 20 minutes. This separate mandatory automatic alert will also alert the staff. Even though the responsibility is not just on the AI and the staff will have its own part to play, even if this initiative was based solely on the technology, the founders believe that it would still have an impact and it would also help the staff who actually work at these venues, who are often over-stretched and poorly paid. Also worth mentioning is just how much violence these people have to deal with on an everyday basis. The cooling-off period may even help with the overall amount of violent outbursts in casinos and make the lives of everyone involved a lot easier. The algorithm will detect those who are at risk of harm, by using multiple factors like erratic play, chasing losses, speed of play and the time spent on the machine, therefore the alert and “cooling off” period will be triggered at almost any time during play. It will be specific to the individual playing the machine.