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DraftKings Is Using AI to Behaviorally Target Chronic Gamblers

61 points paimapi 36 minutes ago 27 comments

tedivm 24 minutes ago | parent

ProPublica had one of their reports work with gambling addition experts to see how DraftKings would respond to someone presenting signs of a gambling problem. It's a hell of a read, and makes it clear that this company is full of people with absolutely no ethics whatsoever.

https://www.propublica.org/article/draftkings-sports-gamblin...

jimbo808 6 minutes ago | parent

> this company is full of people with absolutely no ethics whatsoever

I believe this applies to any company which sells an inherently harmful, predatory, and addictive product or service

tonyhart7 4 minutes ago | parent

fork found in kitchen

I mean what do we expect ???? "the house" is playing fair ????

we literally have mobile game that have "gacha" which is full blown gamble and we pretend that the actual "online casino" is to play moral, ethics or fairness ??

we literally past that point ages ago

ChrisArchitect 23 minutes ago | parent

Prevously on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49765288

drivebyhooting 22 minutes ago | parent

Passive income? I need massive income.

Anybody seen those billboards? It’s disgusting.

zug_zug 19 minutes ago | parent

Somebody said (I think it was FrostPrime) roughly: Gambling is genuinely the scariest drug, I actually think it's worse than cocaine and it's just right there on your phone.

I think that really framed the issue well to me. Imagine having an addiction problem and having to carry the problem substance around with you 24/7.

htrp 6 minutes ago | parent

and also blasted into your face at any opportune moment (TV, billboards, print media, in person conversations)

ecshafer 15 minutes ago | parent

Legalizing sports betting and online gambling was such a massive mistake. They are sleazy immoral industries that profit on suffering.

NichoPaolucci 14 minutes ago | parent

“Gambling company leans into its target demographic”

I worked with a state lottery that did similar things. Their target demographic was the “every day players” that would compulsively buy at the gas station.

I quit that job because it seems to be morally wrong.

Betting apps are just this taken to the extreme, I feel for people with this addiction but it’s not going away anytime soon.

LogicFailsMe 8 minutes ago | parent

Ban state lotteries while we're banning DraftKings IMO. I find I cannot have a productive conversation with anyone who thinks the odds of winning the lottery are higher than winning in the stock market buying total market funds.

fckgw 7 minutes ago | parent

> Betting apps are just this taken to the extreme, I feel for people with this addiction but it’s not going away anytime soon.

Why? This wasn't a thing that existed 10-15 years ago, this isn't some long-standing institution. We could ban online betting apps today if we wanted to.

Loughla 2 minutes ago | parent

I worked with a state lottery as well. They had very clear training for the retailers they worked with to identify and stop problem gambling. There was space reserved in ever ad and on every retailer counter for stop gambling assistance. The few meetings I attended all began with what they had done to reduce problem gambling.

So I'm guessing this varies state by state.

SirFatty 13 minutes ago | parent

I'm shocked. Shocked!

dwaltrip 12 minutes ago | parent

Ban this shit. Fuck anyone who works at these companies.

LogicFailsMe 9 minutes ago | parent

And this is the sort of use of AI that ought to be regulated. But it's not as exciting as an AI going foom and cleansing the planet of the scientifically illiterate so it doesn't get traction.

josefresco 9 minutes ago | parent

Then there's me, using my AI tools to build a Fantasy Football lineup tool. Did pretty good last week!

esalman 5 minutes ago | parent

Cool, but you're not running people's finances at scale. It does not compare.

baggachipz 8 minutes ago | parent

This should come as no surprise to anybody. They have every incentive to exploit those who can't resist their offering. Gambling is the new tobacco industry.

JumpCrisscross 6 minutes ago | parent

> This should come as no surprise

We need a better way of responding to journalism evidencing what was previously suspected and accepted.

computerex 5 minutes ago | parent

Hooray capitalism!

esalman 7 minutes ago | parent

I frequently get DraftKings ad on YouTube featuring Kevin Hart and Nick Jonas, they're pushing the information that it is now legal in every state.

I also get loads Polymarket and Kalshi ads. Polymarket seems to have invested tons into featuring mega celebs like LeBron in one of their ads. Other ads feature influencers showing off how to trade and such. More obnoxious part is that these companies pay influencers to talk about trading and winning live on streams- without disclosing they're paying those influencers.

Polymarket even set up fake website where influencers showed they were winning hundreds of thousands of dollars. You wouldn't find those bets on the real Polymarket website.

j45 6 minutes ago | parent

I would be surprised if this was not already systemic and endemic across the retail space preying on people who have compulsive spending, gambling issues.

sanex 4 minutes ago | parent

Back in my day this was called machine learning.

morelandjs 3 minutes ago | parent

I like how you have to be an accredited investor to get involved with riskier investment instruments but you can be a total moron with no money and lose whatever you have left betting on sports and prediction markets.