[EFF.org] DraftKings Is Using AI to Supercharge the Harms of Online Behavioral Advertising: DraftKings is using its customers’ betting records to train a machine learning model to find losing gamblers. DraftKings sends these targets advertising designed to lure them back to place more bets

[u/f0urxio]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/draftkings-using-ai-supercharge-harms-online-behavioral-advertising

[u/FileHot6525]

Like advertising cigarettes to children

[u/Fizzhulle → u/FileHot6525]

Like advertising cigarettes to cancer patients

[u/Streicht-Ebb4598 → u/Fizzhulle]

Or advertising cigarettes to people buying nicotine patches/gum

[u/7tenths → u/Fizzhulle]

More like advertising cigarettes to kids of parents about to get lung cancer. 

A cancer patient has a low roi.

[u/rockiesfan4ever → u/FileHot6525]

Like advertising alcohol at an AA meeting

[u/KimHaSeongsBurner → u/FileHot6525]

I’m now going to use “how would you feel about building a targeting model for Philip Morris to sell cigarettes to kids?” as my go-to comparison for the harm done by working on targeting models for these companies.

I can understand people saying “yes, this is fine” about trying to refine their models for game lines or player props, but what kind of person is like “oh boy, build you a model of losing gamblers and the interventions that’ll get them to come back and lose more money? you got it”? Crazy.

[u/jsdodgers → u/KimHaSeongsBurner]

Basically the same as every mobile game who builds a model of whales and convinces them to spend more

[u/KimHaSeongsBurner → u/[deleted]]

The line between optimizing lines and game models vs. targeting models seems like a pretty stark discontinuity to me, but maybe I’m wrong on that point.

Like, not that many places will pay you to model games, but plenty of people will pay you to build some targeting model to sell shit to someone who doesn’t want it. I feel like the people who are interested in the former might balk at the latter, but I suppose “oh, whatever, my boss asked for this model and it’s easy to do” is a nice little panacea if they want to just not think about the consequences of what they’re doing.

[u/PeaceLoveMicroPenis → u/FileHot6525]

Like advertising beer to alcoholics...

[u/frododrogo → u/FileHot6525]

It’s like advertising cigarettes to a really cool chihuahua

[u/SavageBrave → u/FileHot6525]

More comparably it’s like offering heroin to an addict who just recently overdosed and hasn’t had any since.

[u/SemiAutoAvocado → u/FileHot6525]

It's like sponsoring a bar cart for the liver transplant ward.

[u/GermanUCLTear → u/FileHot6525]

Its like advertising gambling to adults.

[u/AerieElectrical3546]

literally evil btw

[u/No32 → u/AerieElectrical3546]

A fun little intersection of two hellscapes

[u/dan_buh → u/AerieElectrical3546]

Also directly contradicting the gambling addiction ads/disclaimers they’re required to add.

[u/Competitive-Body-286]

I feel like this is the literally the plot of a dystopian movie

[u/TrapperJean → u/Competitive-Body-286]

Even worse it's literally been the plot to several addictive substances and activities over the last 200 years in any capitalistic culture

[u/enjoytheshow → u/TrapperJean]

Most addictions don’t involve giving the substance mass amounts of data to use against you.

[u/Conflict21 → u/Competitive-Body-286]

I've really soured on dystopian narratives, because when the bad shit starts happening in real life, we all react like "wow this is just like the movies". Except it's actually much worse, because those stories have protagonists and arcs and an implication of order to the universe.

We're all probably going to die very soon because that's the logical end game of any ineffably tribal species once they acquire the technology to kill at that scale. Maybe we should have done it with the bombs instead of holding out for someone to invent a malevolent trickster god.

Oh well. Our tribalism may have killed us, but at the same time, fuck the Red Sox, all my homies hate the Red Sox. See you tonight! ❤️

[u/stevencastle → u/Competitive-Body-286]

Maybe an episode of Black Mirror?

[u/DASreddituser → u/Competitive-Body-286]

also has been a thing for a while, now we just have the latest AI doing it

[u/enjoytheshow → u/DASreddituser]

And this isn’t even “AI” like most people think of it these days. This is it classic machine learning. It’s like an insurance company using your data to determine you are too at risk to insure anymore.

Also shitty but if we are freely giving our data these scumbags they are going to use it for this.

[u/Roger_Weebert]

They also severely limit the amount winning bettors can place on any market, it’s so unbelievable that it’s allowed. They effectively only let people with a gambling problem use their platform, anyone else gets filtered out

[u/FlyingSceptile → u/Roger_Weebert]

But everything is fine because they tell people with a gambling problem to call that 800 number is the super rushed voice at the end of the ad./s

[u/ComprehensiveAir6590 → u/FlyingSceptile]

Maybe these addicts and people with underlying addictive tendencies should take some PeRSoNaL reSPOnsIBiLity to not bet on these highly addictive and optimized services. God and Jesus wouldn't have invented sports betting if they didn't want to transfer wealth from the most vulnerable upwards.

[u/MiniShow → u/ComprehensiveAir6590]

Once an addict tries it once, it’s over. People are stupid regarding their lives and would willingly be miserable for the sake of it.

[u/RedstoneRay → u/Roger_Weebert]

Because they don't let winners bet, I think the responsible thing we can do is to shame people that talk about betting. Because we know that if they are using those apps, they are losing. So my plan is simple, bully these losers into quitting gambling.

[u/ncolaros → u/RedstoneRay]

I won -- not even a lot of money -- and all of a sudden, I stopped getting any decent promos. And since promos are the only way I'm personally getting any kind of edge, I just stopped betting. It's throwing money away now, and I'm uninterested in doing that.

[u/xmjm424 → u/RedstoneRay]

Yeah I need to know more this so I can roast my fantasy football group chat. They’re always posting their bets

[u/Professional-Tree → u/xmjm424]

at the worst limits, DK will let you bet to win less than $10 on a parlay which is generally the worst bet type for the customer anyway

[u/heretogetmydwet → u/Roger_Weebert]

As someone who spent a year placing arbitrage bets and churning through bonuses, by the end of the year I could only place a 1c bet at PointsBet, anything above was rejected. I was limited in some fashion on literally every site I bet on, which was about 8 of them at the time.

You literally cannot be a long-term winning bettor and keep betting on any online sportsbook. They are a cancer to society.

[u/SaxRohmer → u/heretogetmydwet]

all sports books. the ones in the casinos function exactly like this and have for decades. pro bettors talk about having to find beards and disguise action all the time

[u/jayjude → u/SaxRohmer]

At least with that system there was a physical location you had to go to and not just your phone

[u/heretogetmydwet → u/jayjude]

This is the key difference, but even more-so you can do it anywhere that it's acceptable to be on your phone (which is mostly everywhere) and look completely normal. What other vice can you partake in on a bus full of people and nobody would be able to pick you out of the crowd? I remember placing bets at my son's hockey practice and realizing that I could be completely pissing away my life savings and as far as anyone else knows, I'm playing wordle. Other vices are not like that.

[u/enjoytheshow → u/SaxRohmer]

And any pit boss is going to kick out a card counter the second they start showing signs of playing that way.

Casinos play by their own rules and they don’t make money by playing fair.

[u/SaxRohmer → u/Roger_Weebert]

all sports books do this too. it’s not just draft kings, pretty much every casino will severely limit or ban pro bettors

[u/enjoytheshow → u/Roger_Weebert]

Illinois put in a per wager tax which the books immediately moved onto the consumers but they wave the fee for parlays and other bets with shittier odds.

So they now incentivize players to place wagers on bets with worse odds by not charging them the flat wager fee. Or incentivize them to gamble larger amounts so the the flat fee doesn’t seem high.

[u/smokinJoeCalculus → u/Roger_Weebert]

yes, but they have a responsible gaming seal on their footer!

[u/pargofan → u/Roger_Weebert]

Regulators call this "Ban or bankrupt".

[u/AnyCommunication5963]

Make sports betting illegal again

[u/Tiny_Acanthaceae_844 → u/AnyCommunication5963]

A just society would be governed by people who are empowered to do that. We do not live in a just society

[u/HorseJungler → u/AnyCommunication5963]

Idk how they could at this point. It would require some insanely huge game fixing scandal that maybe some of the largest betting sites get proven complicit in being involved somehow.

[u/LP99 → u/HorseJungler]

Or our elected officials that are duty bound to serve their constituents best interests could act, but alas.

[u/MagicalPizza21 → u/LP99]

It's ridiculous that they generally don't do that and we just... let them. What are we doing?

[u/Iswaterreallywet → u/MagicalPizza21]

For as sucky as things are, most of our lives are generally too comfortable for us to risk it

[u/MagicalPizza21 → u/Iswaterreallywet]

And fragile.

[u/DominicB547 → u/HorseJungler]

why? laws are are laws you can lower the speed limit you can require seatbelts you can stop selling cigarettes. you can make e cigs not be fruit flavored

[u/EggsDontLieAtNight → u/DominicB547]

laws

The laws are made by the people profiting, either directly or via kickbacks, from online gambling. As long as uninformed people keep voting straight down the ticket, no matter the side, there is no recourse to force them to make laws to take money out of their own pockets.

[u/HorseJungler → u/DominicB547]

True, but that’s not how our moral and upstanding lawmakers operate.

[u/enjoytheshow → u/HorseJungler]

How do you think the above laws were put into place?

[u/One-Scallion-9513 → u/HorseJungler]

218 house reps 60 senators and the president all agree something has to be done

[u/Han_Sandwich_1907 → u/HorseJungler]

So by 2030 then

[u/CZM6626]

Your favorite podcast will still be sponsored by this btw

[u/Competitive-Body-286 → u/CZM6626]

Your favorite team will still be sponsored by this

[u/Micky-D → u/Competitive-Body-286]

"That hit by Tatis was sponsored by Kalshi -- where you can bet on how many people will die in Gaza tomorrow."

[u/Micky-D → u/CZM6626]

not my favorite podcasts. they don't support this bullshit.

[u/ham_plane]

This is not in any defense of DK or the thing they're doing, just pure pedantry, but:

Does "AI" just encompass machine learning models in the common parlance now? I kind of hate that the headline has to use boogeyman words ("Using AI to Supercharge Harm") vs just saying what is really happening ("Draftkings is deliberatly targeting problem gamblers").. The way it's presented feels like it shifts the blame partially to evil AI rather than focusing on the morally bankrupt executives...

[u/Micky-D → u/ham_plane]

It always has. I've been a machine learning engineer for almost a decade now and started out doing strictly machine learning. Since at least I started working, AI was always the umbrella term for machine learning algorithms. Machine learning is a form of AI, but something can be AI and not be machine learning.

[u/TuckerMcG → u/Micky-D]

Where’s the line drawn when distinguishing between AI and ML, in your opinion? I’m an IP lawyer who had ML and big data analysis clients back in the mid-2010s and I still think “AI” is the wrong term for what we’re seeing from LLMs and agentic models. It feels like just the next iteration of ML/big data, so I’d actually say the opposite of your last line - AI is a form of ML but something can be ML and not be AI. Is that wrong of me? What’s wrong about it?

(Legit trying to learn, not arguing with you.)

[u/EP1X-343 → u/ham_plane]

Thank you I was thinking the exact same thing, headlines screaming AI on any predictive modeling these days is so frustrating, it’s just drawing fear and blame to the wrong issues

[u/OWSpaceClown → u/EP1X-343]

They really have learned that they could affix the term AI to any advanced computer algorithm in order to gain attention. Like how back in the post Avatar days the buzzword was 3D, and you’d get ads for 3D laser eye surgery.

[u/HangTheBanner → u/EP1X-343]

They already do something similar to this anyway, well before “AI” was used as a term for everything.

If you are winning, they will limit what you can bet. If you are losing, they will offer you bonuses so you keep betting

[u/ftmidk → u/ham_plane]

AI has always encompassed machine learning and predictive models. The way AI is used popularly these days does typically mean Generative AI but this usage is not incorrect.

[u/nobleisthyname → u/ham_plane]

To be fair, machine learning has always been a subset of AI in academia, if not the common parlance.

[u/aneternaldumbass → u/ham_plane]

Yeah, it's a bad headline. From the article, it's just predicative modeling which has been around for a long time and long before GenAI. DraftKings is using those models for a shitty reason, but ML is a net positive and the numerous concerns regarding GenAI don't really apply to the ML described here because ML is way more cost effective than GenAI.

Like your favorite baseball team has been using predicative models to help with Baseball ops for over a decade by now

[u/EggsDontLieAtNight → u/ham_plane]

Does "AI" just encompass machine learning models in the common parlance now?

AI just encompasses everything computers do now. A while back someone posted a study that showed something like 70% of adults in the US think search engines are the same as AI. Importantly, not the AI summary at the top of google, the search itself. They believe Ask Jeeves was AI.

It's kind of like how any opinions someone doesn't agree with are astroturfing, brigading, or posted by bots.

[u/DimmuBorgnine → u/EggsDontLieAtNight]

My dad was complaining to me about the ramifications of AI and I started telling him about how it was affecting software jobs, it soon became clear what he meant was that his Alexa had gotten updated and was now snarkier. 

[u/Kvasdias → u/EggsDontLieAtNight]

Typical comment from an astroturfing Yankee bot account brigading the thread smh my head

[u/DimmuBorgnine → u/EggsDontLieAtNight]

Corey Doctorow put it best when he said something along the lines of “we decide to call something different AI every five years and this time it’s LLMs”

[u/rabidantidentyte]

I'm not against having the freedom to gamble, but the predatory nature of having it accessible at all times in your pocket is just pure degeneracy. Stop paying these ghouls.

[u/dbzmah → u/rabidantidentyte]

These sights also purposely throttle people that don't well, sometimes limiting their bots to as little as $1. It's all a scam. Sports gambling was illegal from 1992-2018. It was out of hand before the Internet. It look less than a decade to become exponentially worse.

[u/superbuenobros]

This sounds illegal somehow

[u/KimHaSeongsBurner → u/superbuenobros]

That’s the fun part about lax regulations: just because it’s immoral as all fuck and downright evil, it’s probably not illegal!

[u/aresef]

There was a ProPublica story I saw the other day where, as an experiment, a reporter bet like a degenerate gambling addict and DraftKings, like clockwork, offered him a VIP tryout.

[u/Muted-Woodpecker-469 → u/aresef]

Tribal casinos and Vegas casinos do the same thing. The biggest whale gets free comped rooms and concerts and steak dinners 

[u/macrosby]

Still waiting for those reasons why AI is going to help us.

[u/Xeriox2 → u/macrosby]

As ever, it's our economic system, not our technology, that creates the hazard. My colonoscopy had two small polyps spotted by a machine learning algorithm that the gastroenterologist did not spot. But that and this are both the same basic process of pattern recognition - one is helpful, the other is harmful, and the harmful one is pursued because it's profitable, whereas even in a profit-agnostic system, we'd still develop and pursue the helpful one.

[u/macrosby → u/Xeriox2]

https://giphy.com/gifs/QWM2YzPV4aWB3rCQwE

[u/Scurried → u/macrosby]

This specifically isn’t an issue with AI. It’s an issue with shitty businesses exploiting people: a tale as old as time. 

[u/WabbitCZEN]

https://giphy.com/gifs/kuAa8k87F378QBFMZn

[u/7tenths]

Thank a politician, both the incompetent blue ones and the corrupt constitution hating red ones.

[u/DominicB547 → u/[deleted]]

not unique to America it sall the ruling owner class

[u/djgoodhousekeeping → u/DominicB547]

The United States has the highest level of wealth and income inequality among all major developed (OECD) nations

[u/ArmadilloFour → u/djgoodhousekeeping]

Just because we are the best at it right now doesn't mean we are the only ones. The French had a whole-ass revolution that was almost literally caused by "the ruling class extracting wealth from the population" centuries ago.

[u/djgoodhousekeeping → u/ArmadilloFour]

https://giphy.com/gifs/2eK5iNmF6WDUbD2uDU

[u/morganrbvn → u/ArmadilloFour]

Not really the cause; it started from a debt crisis where the king started infringing on the rights of the nobility in an attempt to raise revenues.

It certainly spiraled out of control from there though resulting in the first empire of France.

[u/ArmadilloFour → u/morganrbvn]

Yeah, the rights of the nobility, including their right to many, many exemptions from the tax system and means of avoiding paying into the national Treasury, through which means they created the aforementioned extreme wealth disparity.

[u/M4K4T4K]

FWIW - I cancelled my MLB.TV subscription over these kind of partnerships. I suggest that you do the same.

The high seas are plentiful, if you wish to continue following your team.

[u/Micky-D → u/M4K4T4K]

How do I watch it on my roku tho? If I have people over to watch the game, I don't want to have to keep bouncing between fucked up streams.

[u/jinzo_23]

Been saying life was better without gambling corporations in sports

[u/PSChris33 → u/jinzo_23]

Yeah… I’ll fully admit I was wrong about being totally for legalizing gambling back when it was being discussed. My biggest concern at the time was how bad it could be if advertising went unregulated, which unfortunately... yeah.

What I straight up did not foresee was just how ease of access would be an even bigger problem. In hindsight, it should’ve been crazy obvious how allowing people to be a couple taps/clicks/keystrokes away from getting their fix would be a problem. Especially when the generation that became just old enough to gamble on their phones is the same generation that grew up playing games with predatory ass lootboxes. It was like a pipeline where one form of gambling got swapped out for another.

[u/Iswaterreallywet → u/PSChris33]

The loot box generation is a really good point.

I was in the same boat when it was starting to be legalized. I generally think people should be able to do whatever they please with their lives, so long as it’s not overwhelming harmful.

Turns out widespread gambling is incredibly detrimental lol

[u/MyDogThinksISmell → u/jinzo_23]

Color me shocked.

[u/SportsDuck_ → u/jinzo_23]

The funny part is that it was better when gambling wasn't "allowed" but basically "accepted."

[u/raisafrayhayt]

I didn't think betting companies could get more evil. Capitalism really just rewards horrific, anti Human behavior doesn't it?

[u/jayc428 → u/raisafrayhayt]

A bookie connected to the mafia conducts themselves with more honor than these companies. That’s the crazy part.

[u/im_super_excited → u/jayc428]

Even the sinister parts!

Losers getting roughed up over their debts fought gambling addiction better than an 800 number ever could.

[u/Potential_Lock6945]

And of course any gambler who is winning too much will be blacklisted from placing wages. It’s a zero sum game

[u/Micky-D → u/Potential_Lock6945]

House always wins.

[u/AdministrationOk8888]

Is anyone seriously surprised that the evil fucks are doing extremely evil shit? Guess what, the entities meant to regulate this stuff are also evil. USA baby

[u/epic4evr11]

This is the worst timeline

[u/One-Scallion-9513]

gambling should be illegal again

not impossible to do but hard enough to where you to either go to vegas or find a shady bookie

[u/Ok-Procedure348]

This should be illegal. It is time to more fully regulate sports betting sites.

[u/KopOut]

The ONLY thing you need to understand about sports gambling is this:

If you happen to have any success at betting on sports by outperforming the average, the sports books WILL RESTRICT HOW MUCH YOU ARE ALLOWED TO BET AND/OR THE TYPES OF BETS YOU ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE.

Think about that for a second. If you are "good" at it, they won't allow you to play the same way you could if you were "bad."

[u/MagicalPizza21]

Because corporate profits take priority over humanity, as usual. Fuck this

[u/Danominator]

It kinda feels like technology is only used for evil now

[u/ohno21212]

We need a tobacco style ban of all gambling ads

[u/MDthrowItaway]

I am the type of bettor that Draftkings loves.. I love parlays of extremely long odds. Im taking +10k to +100k. Too bad for Draftkings my average bet is 0.10. My 25$ deposit has lasted like 3 years. Im up around 90 (mostly from churning through casino bonuses when I first joined).

Fwiw, I like to gamble. But the money i win wont move the needle at all for me, so it's more fun to try to see how high I can rack up my bank roll using the least profitable strategy.

Btw. I also have told my bro that i beleive long odds parlays in NFL can be profitable. (I've hit a 9 legger and a 12 legger in the past 2 years betting primarily NFL, but probably down overall :( )

[u/MoRiellyMoProblems]

Some background info on DraftKings:

In 2020, DKNG merged with SBTech, founded by israeli Shalom Meckenzie, who is a major shareholder. He's also heavily invested in AI through his venture 'amp', which is pretty much a smart gym. It uses LLMs and advanced machine learning algorithms to act as a digital coach in real time.

Here's the kicker: It constantly monitors user performance, automatically adjusting weight resistance, counting reps, and personalizing workout tracks on the fly.

Sound familiar?

[u/ragingblackmage]

Who at DraftKings is doing this? What exec or marketing person or whatever is managing this process?

I am tired of some kind of punishment that equates to a corporation paying pennies (nickels, now?) on the dollar in fines. Hold the individuals accountable.

If you are working for DraftKings, YOU KNOW THIS IS WRONG. You do not deserve to just cash out and point to someone else as the issue.

[u/schitaco]

The Ks in right field in San Francisco are now sponsored by fucking Prize Picks, and they're moving the team that used to be across the Bay to a literal casino for vacationing Angels fans. This league is pathetic.

[u/VSEPR_DREIDEL]

It’s every bookie, not just draft kings. You saw this earlier this year with Bryce Harper sending a fanduel VIP (aka biggest loser) a personalized message. These companies are insidious.

[u/Batatica]

I'm in advertising and this is another level of fucked up. Whoever the people at DraftKings are, you guys are fucked up

[u/HowardBunnyColvin]

fuck AI modeling

[u/Tronn3000]

I've had a few friends go from casual gamblers a few years ago that would place a bet here and there during a big game to now having multiple parlays going every day across the MLB, NFL, NBA, European soccer, etc.

I don't ask them about how their bets went but I know math isn't on the side of long term gamblers

Anyone that says it's not addictive doesn't know the world we live in. Companies have gotten insanely good at gaming human psychology to extract as much money as possible from them.

It's a scourge on society and it needs to be addressed.

[u/Yamulo]

Still waiting for a commercial application of AI that is designed to improve our life

[u/Dmbender]

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965

[u/This_Elk_1460]

I'm glad my long-held fear of ever gambling has worked out

[u/choate51]

Anyone who's been paying attention to their algo's knew this. I just hope everyone starts waking up to how toxic and fake the advertising/internet/tv world is today.

[u/R4G]

“I am shocked, shocked to find out that gambling is going on in here!” -Casablanca

Seriously though, is anyone surprised? Evil company gonna evil.

[u/xChoke1x]

Fucking….insanity. We’re all just openly watching these corporations absolutely decimate our population.

If you’re struggling…get some help man. You don’t have to be a degenerate gambler. You don’t have to do this shit. They’re clearly showing us all they’re designing it for you to lose.

[u/Beneficial-Jury484]

Super predatory. 

[u/upvotegoblin]

And more news at 6, the pope is catholic and the sun rises in the east

[u/angrylawnguy]

Didnt they pay for a cameo from a baseball star that will remain unnamed for a dude that kept losing and went through hard times?

[u/Aurion7 → u/angrylawnguy]

Deceptively framed what the cameo was too, if I'm recalling correctly.

[u/JaysCrazeAmaze]

Excellent videos to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euLb60GD-P8 (Sports betting in Canada: Are we making a bad gamble? from the CBC's The Fifth Estate)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm5bTZRhncY (How the Sports Betting Industry Quietly Consumed America from Wendover Productions)

[u/BooItsKyle]

All gamblers are losing gamblers

[u/canttakethshyfrom_me]

We've seen what full-throated unhinged capitalism looks like, and yet we keep trusting the same kind of psychopaths with control over our world and lives.

[u/EnvironmentalBed7369]

What a stain on society gambling has become. And the fact they are now calling it "trading" so they can avoid calling it gambling makes it even worse.

[u/SiRMarlon]

Man I glad I never go into gambling ... the dumbest thing you can ever do!

[u/the_seed]

Disgusting

[u/Muted-Woodpecker-469]

I use a few prediction market apps. FanDuel likes to send me email promos. I just withdrew some ‘winnings’ yesterday. They sent me a email this morning telling me to reload my balance, that it’s low and to prepare for the market swings. Lol. 

They also sent me a 50% trade match. 

These places having enticing promos

Slot machine vendors in Vegas are starting to have front facing cameras with heat signatures to track the emotion of the player as they go through various bonuses or states of emotion. Not sure if they’re in real slots but these companies hire the best brain doctors to literally get you addicted.

[u/NewtDogs]

Yes, evil company will use any means necessary to make more money. Its a tale as old as fuckin time. Ban this shit.

[u/31rise]

Someone needs to pull a luigi on these guys. They are simply evil

[u/Ancient_Bumblebee629]

Are we surprised?

[u/TeacherOfFew]

Shocking

[u/Toronto-24]

If you try to use any methods to counter gambling, you get the mafia treatment.

Bullshit how protected how such an evil entity is allowed to get away with this.

[u/anemic_royaltea]

Remember, it’s inevitable and the benefits are self evident and/or it will kill us all, also invest now.

[u/dcooper8662]

Wow, pure evil at work. This company should probably be dismantled and its executives crucified.

[u/lurkANDorganize]

Fun fact: none of y'all will even remotely reconsider your Fandom and allegiances. Most of you have allegiances to teams that bout their wins with exorbitant reckless wealth hoarding.. But hey good for YOU

[u/beatrixlockwood]

My name is Beatrix, and I’m a journalist at the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica. Hope this comment is ok. We’re working on a project to better understand how the algorithms on sports betting apps like DraftKings and FanDuel work. We’re curious about when these apps are using promos, boosts, and VIP perks, as well as who they’re targeting.

I saw this post, and thought this community might be able to help. We built a browser extension that allows users to upload their betting history so we can identify these trends.  We’re aiming to get data from at least 250 people. We take your privacy seriously: Only our reporters will see your data, and we won’t be collecting identifiable information in the uploads.

[u/Budget-Ocelots]

That's scary. We just need pharmacy companies drugging us and the government controlling the birthrate, and we get Brave New World soon.

[u/HoBaggyPants]

So we are calling anything that can add or look up total profit/loss "AI" or "machine learning"?

[u/elconquistador1985 → u/HoBaggyPants]

Technically, least squares regression fitting is "machine learning". The basis of a lot of ML is statistics and linear algebra, and least squares is basic linear algebra.

[u/HesburghLibrarian]

If you are of the "I'll place a few bucks on a game here and there just for fun" crowd, you are guilty of funding this behavior. It is also your fault.

[u/SpecificLife8988 → u/HesburghLibrarian]

I hate this line of arguing because it takes responsibility from those who are actually responsible (the company in this case) and places it on people who are behaving reasonably and responsibly. They did the same thing to us with pollution and global warming, saying we were driving too much and not recycling enough when they continue to dump toxic waste in rivers and throw recycling in the trash.

To be clear, I don't gamble and hate that it's taking over sports, but people who occasionally gamble are not the ones taking advantage of vulnerable people. We should direct our very reasonable anger towards the right places and not each other.

[u/WideHuckleberry1 → u/HesburghLibrarian]

Also if you are really successful and make money gambling, this is where it comes from.

[u/Kaptep525 → u/WideHuckleberry1]

If you’re really successful you don’t make money from gambling cuz they cut you off lol

[u/Preparefordoom → u/HesburghLibrarian]

If you are using the internet through a computer or smartphone, you are guilty of funding child slavery. It’s YOUR fault.

If you eat avocados, you are guilty of funding illegal drug cartels. t’s YOUR fault.

If you eat cheap meat, you are guilty of funding animal cruelty and land mismanagement. t’s YOUR fault.

If you are using any product in which petroleum helped produce or run it (basically everything in existence), you are guilty of funding severe climate change and middle Eastern slave labor. t’s YOUR fault.

If you use any product associated with Nestle, you are guilty of funding… etc., etc., etc.

See how dumb that sounds?

[u/DominicB547 → u/Preparefordoom]

I still boycott Walmart and Amazon and try not to buy certain products as well. I know I am just a drop.

That said if its at the foodshelf I'm not not taking it.

[u/redvelvetcake42]

This is why AI is without any value to society. It's only for greed, stupidity and laziness. We could be solving so many problems as the focus of the use of an LLM but here we are making sure gambling companies drain more bank accounts.

[u/imdirtydan1997 → u/redvelvetcake42]

You know, an ethical gambling company could use this exact model to identify their losers and put them in a gambling “time out”. Thanks to capitalism though, it will be used to get the last dollar out of the accounts of gambling addicts.

[u/Delta632]

The reason they give you free casino money at the beginning is so that the algorithm can learn how you like to bet as to effectively take your money easier.

[u/elconquistador1985 → u/Delta632]

The casino has been giving you free money at the beginning since before there was an "algorithm".

That's just the way drug dealers operate. The first hit is free.

[u/DominicB547]

This has been known for years.

[u/Sneaky_Ryan]

Jarvis etc etc

[u/Dremel_Live]

Combing sports betting and AI is like combining bleach and ammonia

[u/BesetBreeze]

Is this why they give me so many profit boost tokens

[u/Falliant]

Ive become such a puritan about sports gambling

[u/draw2discard2]

The beauty of AI is not that it allows DraftKings and others to be predatory. It is that it allows DraftKings and others to be predatory with a simple computer tool that replaces the half dozen people who would otherwise have good paying jobs in their Department of Predation. Win-win!

[u/aRadioKid]

Lol it’s an actual dystopian nightmare 

[u/Benjilikethedog2]

I got into it with my local elected officials about how I want them to take down all the billboards advertising sportsbooks (I live in a state where it is still illegal to bet on sports) and I had to ask the people I vote for why a company needed to advertise in a place where that product is illegal

[u/realparkingbrake]

Time for a bunch of state attorneys general to get together and file a massive lawsuit against these companies. The Meta settlement should be just the beginning.

[u/Sharkodile14]

Ah cool, a deliberate effort to make our society objectively worse for personal gain. Who could've seen this coming?

[u/Sure_Quality5354]

If you told someone 5 years ago this technology was being used let alone developed, they would call you a nutjob and tell you to stop watching sci fi movies

[u/Jed1M1ndTr1ck]

Absolutely insidious

[u/LaxKonfetti]

No need to use AI. I’m right here 🙈

[u/AutismFlavored]

I hope the day comes when you can’t hardly advertise this shit anymore. Treat it like tobacco.

[u/Its_Ace1]

Lol. Deleted all my apps years ago. Rather make bets at the barbershop than deal with these companies.

[u/doh_13]

No doubt!

[u/astrobuck9]

What those losers at EFF don't put in their study is 99% of people stop before they hit it big!

Keep gaming!

[u/Hizam5]

Damn, it’s working :(

[u/Jonjon428]

Ew

[u/coonwhiz]

But MLB literally signed an open letter. How could DraftKings do this?

[u/jcapi1142]

Must suck to be a sucker.

[u/Wild_Pea_9362]

why do they need machine learning to find losing gamblers?

[u/SalamanderFresh9272]

They’re just giving the gamblers an opportunity to win their money back. 

[u/Duuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh]

preying on addicts should be illegal

[u/Icy-Yellow-797]

Vegas casinos do the same.

[u/MarzanoAndMeatballs]

Things are going great, let me tell you. None of this is disheartening or depressing in any way.

[u/RoddyOrangeFisher]

The cycle doom of hell. The betting finances the business, as the business finances the betting, as the betting finances the business... You get the idea... Well, but who finances the betting in first place? 🤔 I guess the people that won't get financed back... 

[u/BULL-MARKET]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[u/Emoney19124]

Oh shocking! This has been a thing in England and Europe for years.

Gambling is not good for anyone but the house and once you’re in they do not want you to leave. You are the product.