The Ethical Debate: Should AI Be Used in Casino Game Design?

The use of artificial intelligence in different industries varies widely. This technology can go far beyond just being used for data analysis or customer service. For example, it can even be used to design the games you can find on sites like IceCasino. While casinos’ use of artificial intelligence for game design seems like an exciting development, it also raises some ethical and practical issues.

Manipulation and Deception

One of the key ethical concerns about the use of AI in casino game design is the possibility of manipulation. This technology can very quickly analyse huge amounts of data and learn how to tailor the gaming experience to a specific person or group. This even applies to promotional offers such as the ICE Casino no deposit bonus: AI can learn when a bonus will attract more interest and bring new customers to the casino.

The problem is that AI has no ethics in the usual sense. If you tell it, for example, ‘design a slot that will attract Canadian players and keep them playing for a long time’, it will do so, and in the process, it may design highly addictive mechanics. And these mechanics can be such that they incentivise players to continue playing even if they lose. The AI doesn’t see this as a question of ethics, it’s just trying to complete the task it’s been given. In other words, it may develop games that exploit the weaknesses of the players, and it is likely to focus precisely on this because it has ‘learnt’ that inserting psychological techniques into the game for manipulation will increase the playing time.

This is not the only problem: The AI may also choose to design games in such a way as to manipulate the odds against the player. It can also be used to change the odds of games in real time by analysing individual betting patterns. This is not cheating, but a pattern of behaviour that can result in addiction, as we will discuss below.

Addiction and Responsible Gaming

What we mentioned above is simply dynamically changing the odds according to the player’s betting habits and the size of his bankroll at that moment. For example:

  • If the player hasn’t won for a long time and his bankroll is very low, the AI may pay him a large payout to keep him playing.
  • In a game where the player has just started playing, it can make him win frequently but in low amounts during the first 100 spins. This will hook the player into the game and keep him playing.

The RTP and house edge will not change as the technology will be able to dynamically adjust the odds and make calculations to keep these values constant. There is no “cheating” here, only unethical techniques used to create addiction in the player. And once again, since Artificial Intelligence cannot understand ethical concepts, it will not care.

This means that it will also be difficult to explain the concept of responsible gambling to AI. Mechanics built on creating addiction can become the biggest obstacle to the player playing responsibly. Therefore, using AI to implement responsible gambling would be a much better option. AI can be trained to recognise patterns of addiction and signs of problem gambling. It can identify players who are about to develop a problem in advance and apply various exclusions.

This is a good example that the problem is not the technology but how we use it. AI can be an extremely useful tool to prevent problem gambling. However, when it is incorporated into game design, there is even the possibility of causing problem gambling.

Fairness Problem and Regulatory Challenges

There are two further problems that the use of AI in casino game design can raise. The first is the fairness problem, and this does not mean that AI can develop unfair games. On the contrary, it can even create games that are technically provably fair. However, players will probably not perceive it as such: there will be a very large audience that will believe that this technology will create ‘rigged’ games, and it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise. That is, the player’s belief in the fairness of the games may disappear.

Regulatory challenges are another problem. The gambling industry is subject to very different and very strict regulations in almost every country and region. The use of artificial intelligence for industrial purposes is not yet separately regulated in most countries. It would be wrong to expect an industry known for being conservative and strict to tolerate games developed with Artificial Intelligence. This could even lead to a situation where casinos are prevented from obtaining a licence.

It is not possible to prevent the use of artificial intelligence in iGaming and it would not be fair to demand such a thing. However, maybe it would be best to use this technology to help players, not to develop games.