How Have Technological Changes Supported Responsible Gambling?

Responsible gambling is an essential part of staying safe while enjoying your favourite casino games or placing a bet on your favourite football team. Knowing the difference between healthy and harmful gambling, as well as utilising tools like session and deposit limits, means you can avoid the mental, financial, and social harm that can be consequences of problem gambling.

Technology has been responsible for spreading the important message of responsible gambling and making support more accessible than ever. Now, it’s set to be a vital part of the future of responsible gambling support, with AI being adopted to allow for earlier and more targeted intervention. So, how exactly has technology aided responsible gambling, and where could we be heading in the future?

Why is Responsible Gambling Important?

Before we discuss how technology has impacted responsible gambling, it’s important to reflect on just why gambling providers go to so much effort to prioritise it. When gambling crosses over from healthy into harmful, it can result in widespread consequences, including financial, mental, and social harm. Aa an essential to making sure players stay safe, responsible gambling helps prevent harmful behaviour and the associated consequences.

These consequences can be severe, with damage to mental and physical health, as well as relationships with others. According to the World Health Organization, harmful gambling activities, like overspending and chasing losses, can lead to financial stress, relationship breakdown, mental illness, and more.

The Widespread Consequences of Gambling Harm

The consequences of problem gambling aren’t just limited to the individual with the problem, either. A study by Sheffield Hallam University found that 93% of those who had a loved one who was a problem gambler reported that it had impacted their financial security. Just under a quarter also reported that it led to a loss of a major asset, such as a house or car.

As you might expect, these strains can be harmful for relationships and place strain on the people around the person with the problem. It can also leave them feeling isolated, ashamed, and wanting to hide their behaviour from their family and friends.

How can Responsible Gambling Help?

Responsible gambling is intended to help support players and empower them to stay in control of their gambling activity. A big focus is on education and getting gamblers to understand where the divide between healthy and harmful lies. In many cases, this takes the shape of questionnaires and checklists, which ensure the individual knows what warning signs to look out for. They’re important for getting them to reflect on their relationship with gambling, and they often include signs you might not have even considered.

On top of that, there’s the more practical help, such as session and deposit limits, which allow users to better control their behaviour and avoid harmful activities like overspending and chasing losses. For those who need to completely take a step back from gambling, there are breaks and self-exclusion. There’s always support out there to help you regain control and get back on track, including support groups and 24/7 helplines found through GamCare and GambleAware.

The Importance of the Right Provider

Picking a provider who recognises responsible gambling is essential and offers plentiful supportive resources is absolutely crucial. An easy way to do this is by using one of the most trusted comparison sites on the market, CasinoTopsOnline. They use their unique TopsRank method, which considers safety, as well as all the important factors like games, payment methods, and bonuses, to select the very best providers.

Their expert team have over 50 years of experience in the industry and boasts leading names like Giuseppe Faraone. His over ten years’ worth of industry knowledge means that Giuseppe knows just how important responsible gambling is and puts it at the forefront of his reviews. He shares his valuable insights through his expert articles and his first book, The Untold Story of Online Gambling.

How has AI Changed the Gambling Industry?

Artificial intelligence is one technology that has had a profound impact on the gambling industry, from improving customer service to aiding responsible gambling. It also seems set to play an important role in the future of responsible gambling. Its ability to analyse vast amounts of data means providers can recognise individual needs and offer more targeted support.

Improved Customer Service

One of the most obvious changes made by AI is in customer service. You’ll often encounter AI-run chatbots at providers who provide rapid, if not instant, support. They scour the Internet to find accurate responses to customer queries, improving efficiency.

Of course, there will always be more complex inquiries that require human assistance to be resolved. By using AI for the more straightforward problems, it frees up human representatives to respond to those that are more challenging. In an industry that moves quickly, players need this quick support, which is why AI in customer service has been such a popular development.

How has AI Improved Responsible Gambling?

One of the main selling points of AI is its ability to process a vast amount of data much faster than a human representative could. When it comes to responsible gambling, this ability can allow providers to identify patterns of harm faster and offer earlier intervention. The sheer quantity of data that AI is able to analyse means providers can also focus on individual players to determine their unique risk of gambling harm and offer targeted support.

AI can also flag behaviours that indicate a problem in real-time. For example, if the algorithm detects that a player has been active for an extended period of time or is spending much more than they normally would, it can highlight this to providers. It can also be a part of the solution by automatically suggesting a form of support, such as prompting users to set a limit or offering a reminder of how long they’ve been active.

Leading the Way—Mindway AI

We’ve also started to see AI software firms partnering with those in the iGaming industry to aid responsible gambling. One of the most prominent examples of this has been Mindway AI and BetComply. In one of the first partnerships between the two industries, the two have joined together to help improve responsible gambling.

In their first announcement, they focused on the tool they’re currently developing, GameScanner. It’s designed to combine psychology with player history to determine the risk of problem gambling for each user. The intricate formula has been developed alongside neuroscientists and psychologists to give the best insight into what constitutes harmful behaviour. Once introduced across providers, it should allow for better detection of harmful gambling and earlier intervention for vulnerable players.

The partnership represents the next step in incorporating AI into the iGaming industry and will hopefully prompt providers and AI software developers alike to follow suit.

Making Responsible Gambling Tools Easy to Access

Technology has also helped bring responsible gambling tools to more players by making them easy to access. We’ve come a long way from the clunky earliest casinos of the late 1990s, with improvements in technology making gambling websites much easier to navigate. That extends to responsible gambling tools, which now often have their own hubs on pages to make them easy to identify.

Supporting Apps

We’ve also seen several apps aimed at supporting responsible gambling, such as those that help to self-exclude from multiple platforms at once. These include apps like GamBan, which allows users to block tens of thousands of websites and apps throughout the world. It makes cutting off gambling completely much easier, as those with a problem don’t have to visit individual providers to exclude.

GAMSTOP is another app that provides support to those who need it. It’s a handy way for users to exclude from multiple platforms at once and is the most used blocking software in the country. In the UK, all gambling businesses are required to comply with GAMSTOP and update their exclusion register every 24 hours. The UK Gambling Commission takes action against those who don’t follow these rules, including fines and suspension of licences. These apps are valuable tools for responsible gambling, making staying safe easier and supporting players in controlling their actions.

How has Technology Aided Responsible Gambling?

Responsible gambling is an essential part of ensuring you stay safe when gambling and avoid harmful behaviours like overspending and chasing losses. Technology, such as apps and improved websites, has helped make these vital responsible gambling tools more widely accessible and ensured they support more players.

The future of responsible gambling seems to lie in the cutting-edge technology of AI. Already, it’s being used in the industry to improve customer service and spot concerning player patterns that indicate a high level of risk for harm. In the future, we could easily see it being used throughout the industry to offer more tailored support, as it keeps track of the activity of individuals. It seems we’ve just scratched the surface of what technology can do to improve responsible gambling, and we should expect it to become an even greater part of the solution in the future.