Artificial intelligence is one of the most significant technical advancements of the 21st century and is now transforming our way of life.
All businesses, including the gaming sector, are already assessing how AI may assist them while also recognising the potential threats it may pose. Furthermore, the gaming business is undergoing a transformative phase. Gambling legislation has been progressively evolving and adapting to emerging technology and industries for an extended period.
This article delineates prospective gambling domains that might benefit from AI and the associated hazards to which these same domains may be vulnerable.
Canadian Leadership in iGaming and Indigenous Innovation
In Canada, Ontario has emerged as a leader in the regulated online gambling space with the launch of its iGaming market in April 2022. This framework allows private operators to enter the market under strict oversight by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), introducing a competitive and technologically progressive environment. AI-driven systems are now being tested for responsible gambling measures, fraud detection, and tailored user engagement. Meanwhile, Indigenous communities across Canada—many of which already operate successful land-based casinos—are exploring digital platforms and partnerships to extend their presence into the online space. These developments offer opportunities for economic self-determination while raising important considerations around technology access, regulation, and cultural integrity.
Customisation against Problematic Gambling
One of the most compelling applications of AI for both users and operators is the capacity to tailor gaming. An AI tool may assess a user’s playing history and preferences, adapting the game to maximise excitement and engagement, therefore providing a customised gaming experience for each individual. Moreover, AI may discern user preferences to guarantee that an operator’s marketing efforts directed at a specific user include customised promos, incentives, and bonuses. It may readily ascertain whether a user has an association with a specific team, player, match, or sport. These factors will enhance the operator’s marketing efficacy.
Enhanced odds
Moreover, although not strictly a customisation, AI may be employed to provide enhanced odds estimates. Through the analysis of historical and extensive contemporary data, AI can enable operators to provide more precise odds across diverse scenarios (such as anticipated weather conditions and individual player performance) and enhance in-play betting opportunities, thereby augmenting the user experience, and allowing the best odds-finder sites like Gambling.com to provide customers with the best prices available better.
Although the aforementioned elements may enhance user engagement and happiness, perhaps leading to increased loyalty and retention, they may also elevate the risk of users engaging in problem gambling. Customisation in gaming and marketing may promote excessive gambling.
Gambling Bots and Safeguarding
The enhancement of security and the monitoring of abnormalities in gameplay may be significantly advanced with the application of AI. AI allows operators to evaluate historical data, discern trends and anomalies in behaviour, and consequently recognise and respond to current patterns that may indicate fraud with efficiency. Operators may utilise AI to enforce penalties on accounts exhibiting questionable conduct continuously, hence enhancing efficiency compared to human operators.
The capacity to monitor activity will aid operators in combating fraud, but it also enables bots to do similarly. Users may employ bots to extract betting data, allowing them to leverage optimal odds. Moreover, users may deploy numerous bots to engage in games, guaranteeing that one bot prevails over the others. Operators are finding it more challenging to detect gambling bots, and their presence may be perceived as inequitable for human players who cannot compete with the analytical prowess of these bots. Operators must implement effective KYC procedures, maybe utilising AI, to identify gaming bots and terminate their accounts.
Privacy and Responsible Gambling
AI’s capacity to monitor user activity can significantly advance responsible gambling in Canada. In Ontario, where a regulated iGaming market was launched in 2022, operators must meet strict requirements set by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO). These include commitments to player protection, financial transparency, and responsible gambling interventions.
AI tools can assist operators in detecting early signs of problem gambling by identifying behavioural patterns such as frequent deposits, chasing losses, or extended session durations. By flagging high-risk behaviour, AI can enable timely interventions—ranging from automated notifications and spending limits to voluntary exclusion options. These measures are already being implemented by several Ontario-licensed operators and may serve as a model for broader adoption across Canada.
While these technologies are a major step toward safer gambling environments, they also introduce privacy concerns. In Canada, any data collection and monitoring for the purpose of responsible gambling must comply with PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act). Operators using AI must ensure that personal data is processed with consent, stored securely, and shared only under clear, lawful agreements with third-party vendors.
Much like the GDPR in Europe, Canadian privacy law emphasizes transparency and user control. Any overreach in surveillance, even with the intent to protect, could violate these principles. Therefore, AI must be implemented in ways that balance technological capability with ethical safeguards.
Final Thoughts
Artificial intelligence offers considerable prospects and substantial hazards for the gaming sector. AI has the capacity to transform the interaction between gambling operators and users by improving security, implementing safer gaming practices, facilitating personalisation, and providing more precise odds. Nonetheless, these advantages are accompanied by significant obstacles, including the emergence of gambling bots, issues related to data privacy, and the risk that AI-driven personalisation may promote compulsive gambling.
As AI advances, regulators and operators must achieve a delicate equilibrium—utilizing AI’s potential while instituting protections to secure participants and uphold fairness. Responsible implementation of AI, with stringent laws, will be essential to guarantee that the technology improves the gambling experience instead of introducing new hazards. The future of AI in gaming will ultimately hinge on the industry’s ability to manage these complications, ensuring that innovation aligns with integrity and user safety.
