Most Self-Excluded Players Do Not Have a Gambling Addiction, Mindway AI Says

^{Kim Mouridsen, Professor and Founder of Mindway AI}

Most players who voluntarily block themselves from gambling do not have a gambling addiction, according to Mindway AI*. The company argues that self-exclusion is too imprecise a measure to be used on its own as an indicator of problem gambling.

The analysis comes in response to an open-source AI model for assessing the risk of problem gambling behaviour, unveiled by the University of Amsterdam last month. The model is designed to identify players who may be developing gambling-related problems at an early stage. It was trained on two years of player data from 13 online casinos.

Self-exclusion is one of the model’s main reference points. The system analyses how players’ behaviour changed before they blocked themselves from gambling and then looks for similar patterns among other users.

If a player’s behaviour begins to resemble that of players who later self-excluded, the system assigns them a higher risk of developing gambling-related problems.

This is the approach Mindway AI has questioned.

The company says that being able to predict self-exclusion does not necessarily mean an algorithm can accurately identify the development of gambling addiction.

According to Mindway AI, around 80% of people with gambling problems who need help never use voluntary self-exclusion.

The company therefore argues that early detection should be based not on a single action, but on a combination of behavioural changes. These may include chasing losses, spending more time gambling and unusual patterns in deposits and withdrawals.

Mindway AI refers to “scientific literature” and “research in the field” to support its analysis, but does not identify the specific studies it relies on.