The rapid progression of AI marked by the ChatGPT tool has brought the issue to the forefront, as this tech is becoming capable of handling more sophisticated tasks. That is a source of worry to many and it will certainly mean far-reaching changes to all of our lives.
Those changes do not have to be negative though. AI has the potential to improve many parts of our everyday lives.
One area in which it may already be doing so is that of betting. Read on to find out more.
How AI Could Make Betting Better
Betting on sports clubs and other brands is currently being legalized in more and more parts of the US. That is bringing the country into line with others in the West, where it has been broadly acceptable for decades now.
It is already proving to be a popular pastime in those places where it is legal and AI could be the latest tech to fuel that growth. If so, it will follow in the footsteps of things like online betting and mobile apps, both of which massively increase the customer base for every type of gambling.
For instance, New York legalized sports betting at its commercial casinos in 2013, since then it has grown exponentially. As a result, online sports betting was launched in 2022, allowing many users to search for odds for sports of any kind, you can check out the sportsbook here. It was reported these platforms made a total of $1 billion in handle within 10 months and AI could help that total rise even higher.
At the core of the betting experience lies two things: the hope of making money and the thrill of the risk. Of course, it could be argued that the second of these is sometimes in contradiction to the first one.
That is why casino gamblers deploy various strategies to improve their odds. It is also why those who bet on sports often study statistics related to the form of the teams or individuals that they plan to bet on.
Essentially, some of what AI is starting to bring to betting is just a replacement for that sort of individual research.
Improving Accuracy & Win Ratio
One of the key uses of AI in the betting industry is for predictive analytics. This is a form of forecast modeling that provides bettors with valuable data enabling them to make more informed betting choices.
It involves analyzing data from previous events to help determine the likely results of future ones. That makes it particularly useful for people betting on sports, as it gives them the sort of detailed and sophisticated analysis of performance and match data that professional gamblers have always sought out.
Most casual sports bettors do not have the time to spend on that analysis, which has often left them reliant on gut instincts. It is not hard to see how predictive analytics could give them a greater chance of picking winners.
That means sports betting could be changed forever by AI. Of course, traditional bookmakers and online sites have used a more primitive form of that analysis to figure out the betting odds for sports matches for decades, but this new technology is still revolutionary.
The models that utilize AI are much faster at sorting through all of the relevant information and a lot more accurate in the results that they produce. This has the potential to make them precisely what we referred to earlier in the article: a way to greatly enhance the winning ratios for bettors without entirely removing the element of risk.
AI predictive analytics use a combination of two types of algorithms: deep learning (DL) ones and reinforcement learning (RL) ones to filter vast amounts of data related to betting and produce very intelligent forecasts. This gives those betting on a sporting event – or any other form of gambling – the sort of quality information that will inevitably increase their winning chances.
It might seem like that would be something the providers of betting sites would therefore be hostile to, but the opposite is true. If the customer has a better shot at winning, the sites will attract more people to play at them.
Furthermore, the greater betting odds accuracy that AI predictive analytics allow for will enable the sites to boost their profit margins. Even with the benefits of this technology, bettors will still lose as well as win, as things like sports matches contain inherently unpredictable elements.
AI is clearly going to be a big part of the future of betting on sports and other activities. It has advantages for the gambler and the betting provider.
