Artificial Intelligence, otherwise referred to as AI, has been all the buzz for quite a long time and as time goes to by, it is beginning to find more and more applications across a number of fields. One of the latest ways that this new and potentially revolutionary technology is in tackling gambling addiction. Tabcorp Holdings, one of the companies pursuing the utilization of AI in helping problem gamblers is using the technology as one of the ways to adopt a more socially responsible policy in 2018.
In its Corporate Responsibility Review that was published on December 20, the company rolled outs its predictive risk analytics technology to a group who could then analyze the betting behavior and habits of individuals and to monitor then point out the patterns which may have pointed towards potential gambling addictions. This review was based on a time period of between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018, and included close to seven months of data from the Tatts Group Limited – the two companies entered into a merger in December 2017.
“We take a proactive approach to minimizing potential harm through initiatives and education campaigns, self-exclusion programs and research. We proactively analyze customer account activity to identify and mitigate potential gambling harm,” the Corporate Responsibility Review stated.
Tabcorp Holdings further addressed the decision that it made to prioritize social responsibility measures in 2018 citing the fact that, while its policies have had some level of success, the industry as a whole is obliged to implement even more tools so as to combat problem gambling across Australia and even the rest of the world.
What’s Next?
Going forward, Tabcorp plans to expand its online self-exclusion technology which will hopefully give the consumers an opportunity to take breaks from gambling activities for specific periods of time. The technology would also be useful in helping the consumers to spend weekly spend and deposits limits.
To ensure this, front-line retail staff across Tabcorp Holdings’ over 9,000 shops will continue to receive more training so as to help to better identify or recognize addictive behavior. They will also be making online help source more accessible to both consumers and the public. Besides its own internal policies, the company has proposed and endorsed the adoption of more socially inclusive policies that will foster equality and diversity in workplaces.
Problem gambling is one of the most sensitive issues in the gambling industry and operators are getting a lot of pressure to deal with the problem especially from the authorities and regulators. A number of measures have already been implemented but there is still a lot more to be done if the issue is to be completely weeded out.
