The AI Revolution in Online Slots

AI has had a great impact on nearly all industries during the last couple of years, and the online slot game industry is no exception. With the promise of more engaging, immersive, and innovative slot machines, casinos and players are ready to welcome new technologies if that means greater games. But, exactly what is it that will be changing, and how is AI used in slot development today? Let’s dive in and explore the possibilities as well as the realities.

Can AI Create a Perfect Slot Machine?

In theory, AI algorithms can create a perfect slot machine. All it would need to do is feed it all the data from all the various online slots there are and cross reference user behaviour. Based on this, a game provider could create a slot machine that fits exactly with user preferences, and hence make a perfect slot.

However, this would be a slot machine that is the medium of all preferences, as what players like and don’t like varies widely. After all, that’s why new slots are created all the time, even though there are already well over 10,000 online slot machines available on the market.

But, with constant improvements and new features, player preferences keep on evolving, and this is why new games have to be created. And, there is no one-size-fits-all, so this is why AI has yet to come up with the perfect slot.

Are Customizable Slots the Future?

The ideal way for any game provider to use AI in developing slot machines would be to create a slot that can be fully customizable for each player. Imagine that you could play a slot that has all your favourite in-game features and bonuses, your favourite theme, the betting range you like, and the soundtrack that you prefer. Basically, a slot made precisely to your taste.

And instead of changing between different slots to play, as most players do, you could just change some aspects of the game. Maybe get a higher volatility or a different kind of bonus game, while keeping the audio and visual, the game mechanics, and other aspects that you like. Of course, payouts and wins would have to be changed as you make alterations, to ensure the maths of the game still adds up. But with AI, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Is this the way slot machines will work in the future? Perhaps, but let’s hope not. If you never have any reason to try out a new game, you’ll soon be bored with playing slots. And, if only one perfect game is needed, most game providers would soon be out of business. With less competition among game developers, innovation is doomed to halt in its tracks. After all, why would a company spend money and effort to improve a product that has no real competition?

Ensuring Responsible Gambling With AI

One thing that AI can do better than any human is detect changes in a player’s gambling habits. This is important to ensure responsible gambling so that any player displaying the beginnings of unhealthy gambling habits can be helped before they develop a problem.

Game providers are never in direct contact with players, as they have no way of knowing who it is that’s playing their games. The only one that can know who plays, and thus be able to reach out to a player, is the casino operator. But, what if a game could alter its offerings to a specific player, based on some responsible gambling algorithms?

Most regular players have a set of games they prefer to play, that they come back to time and time again. Within these games, if an algorithm could pick up on changes in the player’s gambling patterns, it would be fairly easy to detect when a player evolves from a normal gambling habit to a worrisome one. For example, the length of game sessions, total wager, and increases in bets.

If the AI algorithm detects worrisome changes, it could make the game limit the possibility of raising bets or continuing playing, at the same time as it could alert the casino that they might consider reaching out to the player.

However, most of this is already a possibility, and many of these triggers are already used from the casino’s end. But, if the game providers as well would cooperate regarding ensuring responsible gambling, it would be much safer for players. Now, it’s all up to the casino, which means the casino operator’s policies regarding responsible gambling are the only thing deciding whether a player is helped or not. By game providers getting involved, it would add an extra layer of protection for vulnerable players.

Tasks and Roles That Will Be Replaced by Artificial Intelligence

Although the creative part of developing new game mechanics and features will likely be a human task for many years to come, other aspects of game development will be replaced by AI. At least to a large degree. Some tasks that have been performed by humans that will be obsolete with AI becoming better are:

• Copywriting: the text in the games will to a large part be written by AI
• Graphics: much of the graphics can be done by AI, although it will need prompting by a human
• Coding: some human coding will be needed, but much of the code can be written by AI, by training it on code already written for other games
• Mathematics: the math in a game, to ensure the payouts and volatility work out to the optimal RTP can easily be done using AI

In addition to the creation of the games, a game developer has many other departments as well, like marketing, account managers, and other basic roles that any company needs, such as finance, HR, project managers, and more. A lot of these roles as well can to a large part be replaced by AI, making the overall team needed to run a game provider company smaller.

How to Stay Unique When AI Develops Casino Games

Most game providers have their own styles when creating games. Some prefer certain bonus features, while others have distinct graphics and themes. This means that some game developers might be reluctant to rely too much on AI, as they’re worried about losing their uniqueness and the elements that attract players to their games.

However, in reality, this is not a big problem, it’s just a time-consuming one. By training AI on how they typically work and make games, AI can create a game that has the district features of the specific game provider. It can be trained to create a game that’s exactly within the wheelhouse of what the provider usually does. Eventually, it should even be able to be innovative, based on what it’s likely that the game developer team would do next. At least, with a bit of prompting.