Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hot button topics of the moment. AI is the commonly used term for intelligence that is derived from software or machines rather than from the human brain.
Although it conjures up dystopian visions of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ for some observers, AI is in fact already in widespread use. Companies that have an online presence are utilizing chat bots powered by AI to deal with customer queries through their websites, but also to gather and analyze consumer data.
The intent behind that is not sinister; it is simply a way of improving their services or products and reaching their chosen demographics more efficiently. One industry that is making heavy use of Artificial intelligence (AI) is the online sports betting one.
Keep reading to learn how it is bringing changes to that industry.
The Uses of AI Within the Sports Betting Industry
For the most part, the impact that AI is having upon this industry is a beneficial one: both for the users of online sports betting sites and the providers of them. The primary use that the industry is making of AI is as a tool to enable it to analyze data relevant to its customers.
That means data concerning where they live, what sports they bet on, the types of bets that they place, how often they bet and what promotional offers they prefer. Machine learning algorithms will sift through and analyze that data and it is then deployed to provide customized recommendations for bettors.
The sites can highlight certain sporting events or bets that they think will interest a particular player. They can also target them with the promotional offers most relevant to them, check out the sportsbook here for just one of many codes that users who live in New York utilize.
This sort of data analysis benefits the sites by enabling them to direct their customers towards the games and promotions that are most likely to interest them. That improves engagement and customer retention, but it also benefits the players by giving them a more personal experience at the sites.
It is not just customer data that is being analyzed though. Sports betting sites are utilizing AI deep and machine learning to study data related to sports events and produce odds and predictions that are more accurate too.
The Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms filter enormous amounts of key information concerning form, injuries, past results, weather conditions and other factors. They then produce odds calculations and result predictions based on that analysis, with a high degree of accuracy.
That allows the sites to offer more efficient odds and forecasting. It advantages them by raising their revenues, but also helps the customers at the sites to increase their winning bets.
Perhaps the final major beneficial impact that AI is having on sports betting online is by cutting down on fraud and problem gambling. The sites are able to use it to analyze and study data concerning age and likely income as well as betting patterns and frequency to pick up on customers who may be at risk from the latter.
This helps them by showing that they take their social responsibilities seriously. The same is true for eliminating fraud via AI through the same kind of pattern and behavior analysis.
It seems the sports betting industry’s use of AI is largely positive, but in fact it does present less welcome issues too.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and Customer Data Security
Probably the most serious concern that the prevalence of AI in this industry creates is over the data security of customers. The effectiveness of data analytics is dependent on collating and storing large amounts of personal information on each user of the site to start with.
That inevitably leads to worries about how the sites will ensure that this data does not end up in the wrong hands. Many sports betting sites are seeking to combat concerns over data security by investing in cutting edge solutions like SSL encryption software.
There are also fears that people could ‘game’ the algorithms to cheat in their betting. However it is possible to train machine learning models so that they pick up on such activities through anomalous behavior and patterns.
That means that AI-based models could actually be more effective at identifying attempts at rigging bets and events. If that proves to be the case, the transformation of the industry that AI has wrought will turn out to be a very good thing.
AI is enabling sports betting sites to provide more personalized products and services to customers through data analysis. That is arguably improving the experience for both parties, but it is important that the sites take the safety of the data they collect very seriously and invest money in safeguarding it.
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