A.I. Working to Find Problematic Gambling in Players Early
Online casinos and sportsbooks have brought so much excitement into the lives of many, but it does come at a heavy price for others. Starting in 2018, residents could bet directly from home on computers or mobile devices, and the market has exploded ever since. With all of that excitement came plenty of horror stories, and now Artificial Intelligence is here to the rescue.
It’s a great convenience to have no travel time to a casino, but it also comes with great responsibility. In the most expensive period of our lifetimes, online gambling has become one of the most popular options to get ahead.
Guys like me aren’t handsome enough to have an OnlyFans account, so betting 3-4 guys to hit a home run or score a touchdown seems like an achievable goal that can land thousands of dollars in return.
If we looked back to the past, even the pen-and-paper bookies in the back of the bar knew who the most addictive gamblers were. But no one except their disgruntled spouses was looking out for these bettors down on their luck.
Now, things have changed, as most states allow online gambling under a few conditions. Mainly, it has to be regulated.
As a New Jersey resident (and one of the first legal mobile bettors in the U.S. in 2018), I have never seen such a big push for responsible gambling as I am seeing today. I have seen them on the New Jersey Turnpike billboards, on PATH trains, and NJ Transit bus stops. The ads are even all over TV, the internet, and there’s plenty of signage on the online casino/sportsbook apps and websites where I’m playing.
All of these ads are just one way regulators and operators are trying to reduce problematic gambling, but it’s not the only way. Artificial intelligence has infiltrated almost every aspect of life these days, and the iGaming industry is the latest to get a helping hand. Now, highly-intellectual AI systems are scanning real-time player data for things like bet sizes, deposit trends, session length, and betting trends after losses to identify at-risk players before they hit the breaking point.
Meet Dr. Michael Auer, Pioneer of AI in Problematic Gambling Detection
The concept of AI identifying problematic gambling isn’t brand new, as it became widely practiced on a mass scale back in 2010. Dr. Michael Auer, a renowned psychologist and statistician, is considered one of the pioneers of AI-driven learning in behavioral gambling patterns, through his company Neccton (which later became OpenBet).
Dr. Auer created some of the first machine-learning models to predict self-reported gambling problems using only player account-tracking data. In 2022 and 2025, Dr. Auer published peer-reviewed studies that produced high-accuracy findings indicating that increases in betting, surges in deposits, and prolonged screen time were common indicators of problematic gambling.
These studies by Dr. Auer led to the creation of automated interaction tools that would send personal messages or suggest limits without waiting for the user to ask for help. A few operators here in the United States and Europe already use Dr. Auer’s tools, creating a safe space for bettors in the process.
Operators Showing Good Faith in Detecting Problematic Gambling with AI
The full scale of modern iGaming makes it nearly impossible to monitor everyone at an individual level, so operators are digging in early and building a pool of players to start with. AI makes it easier to spot problems early on and not wait until the very end, when things are at their worst for the bettor.
In 2021, Mindway AI, based in Denmark, became the first commercial platform in the iGaming space. The company combined AI, neuroscience, and expert clinical diagnoses to unveil GameScanner.
Widely referred to as a “virtual psychologist,” GameScanner had a whopping 87% success rate in identifying problematic gambling, comparing players’ behaviors against validated clinical markers of harm. As of today, GameScanner monitors around 15 million active players per month across 65 jurisdictions, 37 countries, and 14 languages.
The AI models created by Dr. Auer and Neccton are being used here in the United States, notably with Fanatics Sportsbook. PrizePicks, Entain, Crown Resorts, and several European operators were among the first to use them.
With these companies, the AI evaluates dozens of behavioral indicators, which then go to a human review team for next steps; these indicators typically focus on the early stages of problematic patterns that may arise.
In reality, there’s a fine line between making a profit and completely draining your customers’ accounts; these platforms also want to keep their customers around for the long term. If a platform can show it is taking proactive measures against problematic gambling, especially in the early stages, that gives it good standing in the eyes of customers and regulators.
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Is AI Being Used Regularly to Detect Problematic Gambling?
Regulatory pressure from the government is at an all-time high, as I mentioned in my experience here in New Jersey during the introduction. For regulated markets across the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, the expectation is that operators will act in the best interests of the customer.
Sure, the net gains from taxes have been a huge boost to the economies of states like Illinois ($480M+), New Jersey ($243M+), New York ($834M+), and Ohio ($235M+). Yet those gains come at the expense of real losses by real people.
While U.S. regulations aren’t as stringent as abroad, regulation is handled on a state-by-state basis here, and many states are beginning to require operators to submit responsible gambling plans in advance.
In 2026, UNLV led a study that found operators have limited internal expertise for effective supervision, so you can expect more pressing matters to start taking precedence here stateside. All of this despite some of the bigger names here in the U.S. touting success with their individual programs.
Abroad, the regulation is on another level. Spain’s government developed its own AI algorithm in late 2025 to detect problematic gambling and transactional behaviors among operators, identifying which are more dangerous than others.
Down under, Australia has been putting together comprehensive data, while other countries across the pond, like Belgium, Finland, and Italy, have taken similar measures. Even Canada, to the north, has been using automated (and manual) methods to curb problematic gambling.
The Future of AI in Responsible Gambling
Looking ahead, it seems we'd better get used to robots being part of our society. These robots are quicker and smarter than ever, and they're not just helping in the iGaming industry. Some AI robots are performing surgeries nowadays, so I’m pretty sure they can spot quite a few problematic gambling behaviors in the process.
Currently, 22% of Americans are signed up with at least one sportsbook, including 48% of men aged 18-49. If anyone is great at hiding a problem, it’s a man (I would know), so when you see that stat, problematic gambling could need a bigger alarm sound. Help is on the way!
It’s good to know that most leading iGaming casinos and sportsbooks integrate some form of AI into their platforms. There have been calls for industry-wide regulations on an ongoing basis, and we already have ample evidence that AI is not only being used to detect problematic gambling but is also doing so more successfully than anyone thought.
I imagine there will be more personalized messaging based on what AI finds in gambling behavior. These days, customers may receive a simple message or email about their patterns, but it’s not hard to see things expanding well beyond that.
Of course, it’s not hard to see there are issues with privacy and with worrying customers too much. Also, who’s to say this information won’t be shared elsewhere, as is the case in other aspects of life.
All in all, I believe these advanced AI methods can do great things, and many operators have already seen the light. The goal at the end of the road is not just detecting problematic gambling but stopping it from happening altogether.
These next few years will test how the industry adapts to AI and uses it responsibly. If they can find a way to balance people who are losing money with those who are winning, while still having a good time, these operators will remain profitable well into the future.
