UNSAFE BET OP-ED: AI and gambling — the regulatory gap in South Africa is growing
Ubiquitous artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in gambling and betting products and platforms. The question is not whether to engage with AI, but how to develop, deploy, use and regulate it effectively and responsibly. The policy and regulatory choices made now will influence whether AI is ultimately used to protect consumers or to exploit them.
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the gambling and betting industries in South Africa has created a growing regulatory gap. While AI offers numerous opportunities for operators, from enhancing player safety to creating innovative features and applications, it also introduces significant risks and challenges.
AI systems can process vast amounts of live data to understand player behavior and preferences, enabling tailored content and advertising. This can improve the player experience and reduce choice overload, but there is also the potential for AI to intensify harmful gambling behaviors. Algorithms can track player data and apply machine-learning models to predict problem gambling, informing targeted interventions and responsible gaming strategies.
However, AI systems can also perpetuate and amplify human biases, leading to unfair treatment of individuals based on sociodemographic characteristics. AI can also "hallucinate" and change its performance over time due to "drift," potentially resulting in inaccurate outcomes. In the gambling context, AI has been found to make irrational, high-risk betting decisions in simulated environments, inheriting cognitive distortions like the gambler's fallacy.
South Africa's gambling legislation was developed for a traditional, bricks-and-mortar environment. While the country has laws protecting consumer rights in areas such as data protection, consumer protection, and cyber law, it currently lacks AI-specific legislation applicable to the entire industry. Internationally, various approaches are emerging, such as the EU's AI Act, which establishes a risk-based classification framework for AI systems.
The UK has adopted a cross-sectoral, principles-based approach, while Malta has launched an AI Gaming Charter, a voluntary, principles-based framework designed for the gaming sector.
The regulatory gap in South Africa is significant and expanding as AI technology continues to advance. The speed at which AI develops makes it increasingly challenging to bridge this gap. South African gambling laws and regulations across Africa were not designed to accommodate AI, leaving a considerable regulatory vacuum that needs to be addressed urgently.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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