When broken down into its fundamentals, sports betting is nothing more than a series of numbers and calculations. While it’s a cynical and cold way to look at betting, it’s also the proven way to see big returns on any sports bets that you make.
But what if we took it one step further, and introduced automated systems that could analyse, dissect, and predict how a game would pan out in the future?
Artificial intelligence was once only part of the realm of science fiction, but over the last few years, we’ve seen a leap forward in the technology powering AI.
While it’s far from being a conscious being, our current AI is still capable of learning and processing vast amounts of information, and one such industry that could benefit from this is sports betting, specifically online betting.
The Advantages of Sports Predicting AI
One of the reasons that sports have always been popular is because of their unpredictability. We don’t know how a game is going to play out, and that uncertainty adds a layer of exhilaration to both watching and betting on the sport.
But this is also where online sports betting fails many; without any sort of prediction, it’s almost impossible to figure out what’s going to happen on the field.
It means that odds can be altered, inflated, and corrupted to the point where punters simply don’t see the point of betting at all.
Introducing AI, at least at a limited level, might help straighten out the odds for those punters, allowing them to both make smart decisions while also enjoying their favourite sport.
The Disadvantages Of AI
On the flip side of the coin, if we develop AI that is too good at predicting what’s going to happen, the betting industry would take a huge hit.
Experts aren’t so sure that AI would ever even get to that point – many believe that it’s impossible to predict exactly what’s going to happen during a game.
It’s difficult for a system to track a good player, because sometimes it’s not about how skilled a player is, but rather their positioning on the field, and how they best utilise the ball they receive, according to Adam Kucharski. Kucharski is a pioneer of modern sports betting and the technology behind AI, as well as author of The Perfect Bet.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t other forms of information that an AI can track and use to make accurate predictions, however.
Much like doing hard research when putting down a wager, it’s often down to the performance of the player of a long period of time, whether they have any injuries, and how well the team works together.
Sports Betting in The Future
Kucharski also believes that right now, AI simply doesn’t have enough data to work with, as much of it is locked in online vaults.
If those vaults were opened, however, it may change the nature of sports betting forever.