How Technology Can Help Combat Gambling Addiction
It’s no secret that technology has helped to create the problem of gambling addiction through ease of access and catchy gaming design. But can new technology also be used to help combat and reduce the risk of online gambling?
The Gambling Industry is booming and each year it breaks revenue records indicating an increase in popularity. There are many reasons behind the roaring success of the Gambling Industry and factors such as accessibility, attractive bonuses and various gaming options are but a few of them.
In 2020, there were as many as 5.7 million Americans with a gambling addiction according to a nationwide survey by the National Association of Administrators for Disordered Gambling Services. Gambling addiction is characterized as a disorder where the person has an uncontrollable urge to continue gambling, despite the negative consequences.
It is no secret that technology has aided in creating this gambling problem by creating devices and platforms that make gambling easy and addictive for many players. Through smartphones and computers, people can gamble from anywhere at any time.
But is it possible for technologies that helped create the risk of online gambling to be used to help combat and limit online gambling instead? Here’s how new technologies can be used to prevent and limit gambling addiction today and in the future.
Safer by Design
Many online players and especially beginners are easily persuaded by the design techniques used to encourage players to keep playing the game. Slot machines and other online games rely on sensory cues to draw people into the game through auditory, visual and tactile stimulation.
Most people aren’t even aware that they’re being lured in by buzzing sounds and hypnotic colors and effects before it’s too late. Using technology to impose limits on online slots, for example, can help combat gambling addiction and reduce financial loss. In the future, online games could be made safer by design.
Using AI Algorithms to Make Risk Assessments
In the future, we might use algorithms to help spot problematic gamblers. The challenge is currently that there’s a lack of sole indication of whether or not someone has problems with gambling addiction.
Most casinos, for example, focus on money spent and time played, which are only a few factors. Other factors could include canceled bank withdrawals and erratic changes in wagers. AI could be used to build a risk assessment of each player and improve itself with each game played. The algorithm could then score players according to color.
For example, this could mean that players who are doing fine and aren’t in any trouble could receive the color green. And players who are in danger of developing a gambling addiction could be scored a color red, which would mean that they should immediately stop playing online.
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Personalized Messages With Scientific-Based Software
The first step is figuring out how to use new technology to identify problem gamblers. The next step then, is figuring out how to communicate this message to a potential risk gambler.
One option could be for online casinos to use direct pop-up messages to advise players to step away from a game. Other casinos rely on email and text messages to alert their customers, depending on the level of risk.
In the future, online casinos may be able to reach players by phone and personalize their calls depending on the specificity of the data gathered from each player. Scientific-based software could then be used to analyze individual risks in the online gambling community and help determine how to reach out to potential problem gamblers with customized messages.