Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News,...
Read Full BioKasra Ghaharian, Director of Research at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, has warned that AI may be utilized to target vulnerable gamblers in casinos.
Speaking to KNPR in Nevada, Ghaharian noted that Las Vegas casinos are increasingly utilizing AI, primarily citing security reasons.
“We’re seeing AI applications in casino cameras for example, to help detect money laundering, collusion, and fraud,” Ghaharian said.
“We’re also seeing it in back-of-house operations, from copywriting for websites and marketing materials, to even game designers and developers using it to create new assets for slot machines.”
However, the Las Vegas University researcher warns that the technology could be used to target vulnerable gamblers to maximize profits.
“[Developers and casinos] are going to use AI, statistics, and machine learning to augment [their services], but we need to be really careful in terms of where we draw the line,” Ghaharian cautioned.
He added, “When is it just attracting someone to come to your casino, versus exploiting a vulnerability, because gambling can be potentially addictive, right?”
Regulators And Operators Need To Be Ethically Aware
Ghaharian published a paper in April titled ‘Identifying Risks and Ethical Considerations of AI in Gambling: A Scoping Review’. The paper, similarly, warns that: “AI systems, which are designed to optimize profit, could identify and target players susceptible to addiction, pushing them deeper into harmful behaviors.”
The authors note that few regulations exist regarding how gambling companies can utilize AI and call for regulators to review AI systems for ethical compliance and potential bias regularly.
It also notes that AI could be implemented to protect problem gamblers, for example, by detecting patterns linked to problem gambling and triggering support mechanisms, such as limiting play on machines.
It is questionable whether gambling companies and casinos would implement such tools that would harm profits.
Gambling Companies Already Failing To Protect Addicts
Even without AI technology, gambling companies have faced regulatory scrutiny for failing to implement existing systems of protection. A BBC investigation this week revealed adult gaming centres (AGC) in the UK were not following self-exclusion rules.
Additionally, many companies have been fined by regulators for breaching rules set up to safeguard problem gamblers.
If implemented by regulators, AI tools could automatically enforce stricter rules, for example, by identifying individuals on self-exclusion lists through facial recognition or stopping machine play when users have exceeded a specific limit.
Gambling companies, however, frequently oppose such restrictive measures, and new legislation would be required to introduce this technology.
