MGC probes betting operators on AI targeting and gambling harm
Regulators want to know if losses, deposits or riskier betting patterns can make a customer more likely to receive a promotion.
US.- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has given the state’s seven licensed mobile sports betting operators until November 3 to explain how they use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in marketing, promotions and customer engagement. In a letter dated October 9, Executive Director Dean Serpa outlined questions covering eight operational areas, including how operators identify potentially harmful gambling behaviour.
Regulators want operators to disclose whether they rely on AI, algorithms, automated decision-making or similar tools, and to identify the systems involved, their purposes and whether they were developed internally or supplied by third parties. The MGC is also asking whether these technologies make decisions about individual customers, groups or market segments.
The inquiry covers data used to determine who receives marketing materials, which promotions customers are offered, and the timing and frequency of communications. Other areas include behavioural targeting, optimisation, responsible gambling safeguards and the extent of human oversight in automated decisions.
The commission is examining whether operators’ systems can trigger marketing messages or promotions in response to a customer’s recent betting activity, losses, deposits or other account activity. Serpa also asked whether increased losses, more frequent wagering or potentially harmful gambling patterns can make a customer more likely to receive a promotion.
If operators do not use these factors in their targeting, the MGC wants them to explain what controls are in place to prevent such practices.
The initiative comes after a New York Times investigation raised questions about AI’s role in betting promotions.
