Over the weekend, the Guardian published a trio of stories about video game addiction. One was about the 850 people referred to an NHS treatment clinic in the last three years (of whom 227 were under 18). Another was on developers' use of tactics from the gambling industry to keep people spending on games. The third was by the director of the National Centre for Gaming Disorders, calling for industry regulation to better protect young people. These stories concern a problem that is certainly real, especially so for people affected by compulsive gaming behaviour, whose stories are no less affecting than those of gambling addicts.

MELBOURNE – As guests arrive at eastern Australia's Warilla Hotel, a small camera equipped with facial recognition software scans their faces as part of a plan to tackle problem gambling. The tech -- which uses artificial intelligence to identify addicts who have asked to be barred from betting sites -- is set to be rolled out across gambling venues in the state of New South Wales next year. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this support page.

As guests arrive at eastern Australia's Warilla Hotel, a small camera equipped with facial recognition software scans their faces as part of a scheme to tackle problem gambling. The tech – which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify addicts who have asked to be barred from betting sites – is set to be rolled out across gambling venues in the state of New South Wales next year. Supporters say it will help curb problem gambling in a country where the addiction affects about 1 percent of the population and annual losses run to billions of dollars. But the technology is "invasive, dangerous and undermines our most basic and fundamental rights", said Samantha Floreani, programme lead at the non-profit group Digital Rights Watch. "We should be exceptionally wary of introducing it into more areas of our lives and it should not be seen as a simple quick-fix solution to complex social issues," she said.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to have a significant impact on the global online sports betting industry. Sportsbooks are able to provide more precise odds and forecasts due to AI, which can assist bettors place more profitable wagers. AI can also assist in identifying future problem gamblers and preventing them from accruing excessive debt. Sportsbooks can identify warning indicators and provide support to individuals who require it by utilising AI to track betting trends and monitor betting patterns. Overall, AI is enhancing everyone's enjoyment and fairness in the field of online sports betting.

While businesses and employees were left scrambling for public handouts, the online gambling market continued to grow and thrive. A report released in May 2021 showed that the global online gambling market could increase from $64.13 billion to $72.02 billion between 2020-21. That represented a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3%. The report also suggested that the worldwide online gambling market might be worth $112.09 billion by 2025 with a CAGR of 12%. There's hardly any other industry that comes even close to that kind of healthy economic foresight.

Most of us already know that casinos are masters at ensuring the chips are stacked firmly in their favor. However, it might come as more of a surprise to learn that many casinos are taking advantage of technological advances to ensure that unscrupulous individuals can't eat into their profits. Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes it a lot easier to predict outcomes and behavior, and online casinos have started using this to their significant advantage. AI helps casinos and betting websites manage their operations more efficiently, initiating fraud checks, clamping down on problem gamblers, and ensuring that they don't fall prey to online scammers. Below, we explore some of the ways that online casinos are using AI to their advantage in greater detail.