From time immemorial, people have liked to gamble: the first six-sided dice was found in Mesopotamia, dating back to around 3000 BCE, and in ancient China, wooden tiles for a lottery-style game have been found dating back to 2300 BCE. The first casino emerged in Italy in 1638. More recently, the advent of the internet has transformed gambling, allowing it to move out of physical betting shops, race tracks and casinos such as those in Las Vegas and Macau, to virtual venues online. The first online gambling was probably the Liechtenstein Lottery in October 1994, with Antigua and Barbuda launching an online casino the same year. Worldwide, the gambling industry is estimated to be worth around $450 billion, of which about $79 billion was online. Two-thirds of people in the UK place a bet at least monthly in 2025, and the UK is far from an outlier. The countries with the most gamblers per capita are Australia, Singapore, Canada, Ireland and Finland.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to seep into the gambling industry just as it is in others. AI models can analyse players’ poker styles, look at the history of horse racing to come up with suggestions for betting strategy, adjust odds offered in real time and detect cheating in games like online poker. Poker seems particularly prone to computer-assisted abuse, with the PokerStars company confiscating $700,000 from players using machine-learning driven bots as far back as 2015. Detecting cheating, such as player collusion in poker, requires extensive processing power, and the platform operators are in a constantly evolving battle with cheaters, with incidents still occurring in 2025. Other uses of AI in the industry range from targeted customer segmentation, personalised loyalty programs and special offers through to customer service chatbots. The more that players interact with gambling platforms, the more data is generated, and the more that algorithms can target personalised special offers and tailored experiences to them. In the physical world, casinos increasingly use AI-driven facial recognition to carry out “know your customer” checks and anti-money laundering checks. Casinos use AI for revenue forecasting, more targeted marketing and fraud detection. The rise of virtual reality capabilities has led to immersive gambling experiences. Players can sit at home, yet, via a virtual reality headset, enter a virtual casino environment and interact with dealers.
There are obvious public concerns about problem gambling, which can lead to depression and bankruptcy amongst addicted gamblers. The more that AI allows personalised gambling experiences, the more it can be argued to represent an increased risk for gambling addicts. However, there is another side to this, with products such as Mindway offering a virtual psychologist that can advise problem gamblers. The software aims to detect problem gambling at an early stage and offer advice, as well as alerting operators to problematic behaviour by gamblers.
Just as in other industries, there is little doubt that AI will continue to have an impact on gambling, from online websites to virtual reality casinos to its use in physical casinos in various ways. It can be seen that AI offers opportunities for both players and for operators, who are eager to offer more tailored experiences and drive up player engagement. The use of AI for detecting problem gambling and helping gambling addicts before they are harmed too much by their own behaviour may help the industry improve its reputation in the public eye.
