The Coming iGaming Revolution: Will AI live up to the hype?

The meteoric rise of AI-driven tech solutions–such as ChatGPT–has grabbed the attention of many of us in the iGaming sphere, as a potential super-booster for both content and marketing.

Many believe that If AI lives up to the hype it’s very likely that our industry will be revolutionised – and the subsequent potential for growth will be boundless. 

But can AI live up to its expectations? And are there any limits to what it can do?

We caught up with Josh Tromans-Jones, CIO for leading CRM solutions provider Symplify to hear his take on the future of AI in iGaming, and investigate where lies the true value of this most exciting manifestation of cutting-edge technology.

There seems to be a lot of media hype surrounding new AI-driven products, such as ChatGPT, and the impact they can potentially have on our industry. How far can we really go with AI? Are there any limits or challenges to its CRM-related capabilities?

“Think of the earliest memories you have of the Internet: how pedestrian it was, how things would break when your grandmother called, waiting days to load a web page; video was impossible. Then think of where we are now. We are still at the very early stages with tools like ChatGPT and the progress will be exponential. 

“Of course, there are initial limits for AI products and the main one is the reliance on data. AI algorithms demand large amounts of data to learn and make accurate predictions, which can be a challenge for some businesses that lack the necessary data.

“AI is incredibly powerful in automating tasks and improving efficiency. But it lacks the human touch that customers still value. Personal interactions with businesses are pivotal in building relationships that establish a real connection. AI should be used to enhance, not replace, these interactions.

“There are additional challenges in terms of the data these algorithms are trained on, and people maliciously bombing the tools with bad data to train it incorrectly. Yet there is very little, if anything, that I can see never being solved by AI.”

The Symplify development team is made up of leading AI professionals who have come from outside the iGaming sector. How important is it for us, as an industry, to look outside of our industry for learnings and benchmarks? Are there any industries in particular that you think we can learn the most from, and, if so, why?

“There are many industries out there solving specific tasks (self-driving cars, for example) to general issues (ChatGPT), and they are all trying to solve iterations of the same problems. 

“For instance research in self-driving cars has led to improvements in Image Processing tools and frameworks that can be used for image analysis in emails.

“By learning from other industries, businesses can gain new perspectives, approaches and strategies that can be adapted and applied to their own industry. Symplify is perfectly positioned as we also work across the Fintech, Retail, NGO and Education and Hospitality sectors. Retail was quick to utilise AI with chatbots to optimise engagement with customers, answer queries, and offer personalised recommendations.

“I wouldn’t say there is one particular industry that acts as a beacon, but there are some leaders like Netflix, who invested heavily in AI and content personalisation, who set very good examples.”

The better the data, the better results you can achieve through AI. How can companies ensure they’re feeding their systems with the best quality data and the highest volume?

“There are many different approaches to solve this. AI can be used to improve data quality for starters by analysing patterns and imputing missing values. 

“It’s essential to gather the right data to understand what is most relevant and then direct the AI system to solve the issue. Companies should collect data that is relevant and unbiased to ensure the AI system can make accurate predictions.

“Quality can also be improved by initiating automated rules based on business logic and, of course, there is still room for QAs with strong domain knowledge.”

As the market continues to evolve and new AI-driven tech impacts CRM operations across the industry, how do you envisage the role of the CRM/Content/Marketing Managers changing correspondingly?

“CRM teams will be responsible for leveraging AI to create and suggest content to ensure this content fits with the overall corporate structure. It will lead to the role evolving into more of an editorial one where longer-term planning is required.

“To best implement marketing strategies that deliver returns will require CRMs to shift their focus towards data analysis as well. They will need to analyse AI algorithm results, interpret the data, and use it to adapt marketing strategies and improve customer engagement. 

“Personalisation experiences will be further enhanced as we understand more about customer data and their preferences.”

Editor’s note:

After catching up with Josh, it seems clear that AI is here to stay and recent developments show just how far we’ve come since the advent of the Internet. 

Although it’s a very powerful tool, and has the potential to help our industry grow exponentially, Josh reminds us that AI does have its limits – and there are key factors we will need to consider before implementing. 

The reliance on data is a major limiting factor. AI algorithms demand large amounts of data to learn and make accurate predictions, which can be a challenge for some businesses that lack the necessary volume of data. Also, while there’s no denying that AI is an incredibly powerful tool for automation and improving efficiency, it still lacks the human touch needed to make customers feel ultimately valued. 

We must be careful to safeguard the value of human interaction and appreciate how influential this can be in building relationships and shaping the all-important Customer Experience.