Exclusive – AI’s Wager: Redefining Market Dynamics in the Battle of Betting

Since the launch of the Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer commonly referred to as ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, its popularity has spread like bushfire. As this situation has resulted in a massive transformation in different industries, the Gaming scene is reported to be amongst the few industries that have largely ignored this phenomenon.

The consequences of ignoring data and technology can be catastrophic as it may result in missing out on valuable insights into customers, the market, and the competitors, but this seems to be the last thing to worry for the gaming operators as they tend to be very conservative when implementing new technologies. Until their positive impact on profits is demonstrated, they are not even considered. Typically, innovations are driven by business-to-business (B2B) companies. There are many cases such as in the customer relationship management (CRM) segment, where there are products that have begun to give excellent results with algorithms based on Reinforcement Machine Learning.

There are also timid applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to sports betting that offer better odds, greater personalization, better risk management, or more successful fraud detection. Nonetheless, the challenge today comes – just as it has happened with the stock market- from many platforms that make sports predictions for players based on AI such as Sports AI, Deep Betting, Leans AI, Unanimous AI, or Reggie The Bot among many others.

Developing AI technology is technically speaking a child’s play. Anyone can use open-source libraries such as TensorFlow and Keras to program and train an Artificial Neural Network in Python with optimal predictive results. The most important thing to be successful is to have a long and relevant data series; otherwise, the magic will never happen. This gap between the ease of development versus the delay in adopting these kinds of algorithms shows that the industry is far behind events.

The YouTube influencer and AI expert Siraj Rival developed a successful AI sports betting system using an Artificial Neural Network. Mr. Rival’s bot, based on Chat GPT for NBA betting, is available on GitHub and appears to be making money for its users.

Fortunately, there are still a minority of players who use these tools, but if we look at the widespread use of Chat GPT, it’s a matter of time before we start to have problems in the industry and reduce margins. In any case, the conclusion is obvious. We have to start testing what AI can do for us.

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We must distinguish, from a business point of view, two large universes of AI. Traditional AI/Machine Learning and New AI/Generative. The first serves to have better analytics, and predictions and help with decision-making. The second is especially used for managing content including processes. Both are necessary for betting operators. The rapid development of players using AI requires an urgent update to the operators. That’s the only way for the market to reach a new equilibrium in the betting battle for the AI advantage.

The first thing to consider is that AI must be on the CEO’s agenda. It can no longer be a topic for experts. The revolution has to be understood and executed from the top. The growth of the AI ​​tools business is estimated at an astonishing 66 percent in five years.

My recommendation is to start evaluating use cases where AI can have a positive impact on the operator and start training employees in the use of generative AI. In other industries, the usefulness has been quickly proven. For example, in software development, the use of code copilots has increased productivity by almost 100 percent.

The three axes where organizationally successful companies usually focus on AI are:

• Seek strategic advantage: We must look for use cases that provide us with a greater advantage in the long term. To do this, you have to rule out many possible uses that do not add value and focus on one or two that are key. Generative AI is especially suited to managing innovation. It is important to choose manageable projects at the investment level and with rapid results to achieve the desired competitive advantage. Some people also talk about the convenience of having a Chief AI Officer if you want to carry out a radical transformation of the company. Choosing a good LLM (Large Language Models) provider is also key.
• Prepare the teams: AI/G changes all areas of the company from finance to marketing. It involves a change in culture and the development of new procedures based on generative tools. You have to test and choose the most appropriate tools to create new company procedures and train employees. The benefits will be a dramatic increase in productivity, greater creativity in final solutions and services, and greater efficiency. Here, it is very important that the Human Resources department is involved and that the change management is transparent, due to the panic that exists about losing jobs due to AI. However, this approach will give more power and autonomy to employees.

• Protect the business: You have to keep in mind that AI has its risks and you have to be prepared for it. You have to plan the transformation, you have to create clear usage rules, and you have to opt for your technology to avoid being copied into the cloud. It is advisable to have a “Red Team” as it occurs in the field of cybersecurity so that they try to make the AI ​​models and algorithms fail in all possible ways and can be reviewed. It is also advisable to use human supervision such as RLHF or (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback). However, biases can never be completely avoided, but we must try to be as impartial as possible.

There are three decisive factors for success. An appropriate investment (small and short return), recruiting the right talent in AI businesses (not just technologists), and the right infrastructure (software,databases,and suppliers). Both AI/ML and AI/G are revolutionizing the organization of companies in depth, but not in that fatalistic scenario in which humans are replaced by machines, but by collaborating with them. More than automation, it is an enhancement of human capabilities. It is a great growth opportunity for any company.

One last piece of advice to finish, the best time to get on board with the AI ​​revolution is today.

About Rais Busom

The author is a consultant in the Gaming Industry, Author of Books on Management, and organizer of the Gaming Tech Africa Summit.