FanDuel will use AI as it increases its efforts to tackle gambling harm, the operator announced Wednesday, with a new machine learning-powered tool designed to stop customers from making erratic deposits.
The new tool — Real-Time Check-In — uses machine learning to estimate a customer’s predicted deposit based on past activity and factors such as day of the week. If the tool determines that a deposit is unusually large, bettors will be prompted to consider a lower amount or to continue with their original value.
“When customers are prompted with a Real-Time Check-In, they will be receiving a personalized insight that helps them manage their play, similar to how consumers interact with data on a fitness tracker or a money management app,” FanDuel Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Sustainability Cory Fox said.
Depending on the size of the deposit, players who opt to go ahead with a high amount may then receive a message requiring them to set a deposit limit.
FanDuel ‘meeting customer where they are’
Fox said the tool focuses on delivering information to customers at the moment that matters most when it comes to encouraging responsible gambling.
“It meets the customer where they are,” he said. “It brings the customer key information at a critical time.”
The tool follows the rollout of a similar one in Australia by Sportsbet, which is owned by FanDuel parent company Flutter.
“The theory is that erratic deposits suggest that the player is not playing in their normal way,” Fox said. “It’s definitely a blinking warning light.”
The change comes amid pressure on the sports betting industry to convince regulators, legislators, and the general public that it takes gambling harm seriously. Fox says he hopes that FanDuel can alter the perception with actions that make a real difference to user behavior.
“I think it’s critical for us to actually protect our users and then tell the story of how they’re being protected,” Fox said. “The tool itself is protecting users, and I hope that doesn’t go unnoticed.
“We hope that players will notice that we don’t want them to deposit every last dollar they have.”
New tool can be tweaked as needed
Fox added that he hoped, as the business understands how players react to the tool, it can make changes.
“We’ll continue to calibrate this tool,” he said. “We’ll also get the data on how people are changing their behaviors. And we also see how often people are triggering a check-in. I’m hopeful that we’re going to get some data that shows this is really helpful.”
The use of machine learning in a responsible gambling tool is the latest sign of FanDuel incorporating artificial intelligence into its products. Earlier this year, the operator launched an AI-powered chat feature that provides users with data about potential bets.
