Veikkaus sets out ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence

Veikkaus said it currently uses AI for a number of operations, including in digital marketing, to generate audience recommendations and choose the advert or placement to be displayed to a customer.

Other uses include within the betting odds calculation process, operating a customer service chatbot, making automatic money laundering notifications, identifying possible abuses and automatic processing of recurring invoices.

However, Veikkaus said any current or future use of AI must meet its guidelines regarding transparency, privacy, responsibility and customer focus.

The operator said it is committed to communicating openly and clearly as to how it uses AI, as well as defining how AI will assist the business with its goals.

Veikkaus also acknowledged the issue of privacy with AI, saying that it ensures the protection of any information used by AI, and both the secure storage and processing of this data.

In terms of responsibility, Veikkaus said it will continuously evaluate the quality of AI methods used to ensure it is being used in a responsible manner, while all AI applications or machine learning models have their own manager to ensure the algorithms comply with its guidelines.

Veikkaus added that the core aim of using AI is to benefit its customers, saying it is committed to providing a better gaming experience, rather than for cross-selling or to alter the outcome of its games.

“The ethical principles of Veikkaus’ artificial intelligence cover both machine-learning artificial intelligence that learns independently from data and rule-based artificial intelligence that enables automation,” Veikkaus said.

“We strive to provide a responsible gaming environment by identifying and responding to anomalous customer behaviour.”

Publication of the guidelines comes after Veikkuas this month also introduced mandatory identity verification controls as part of its responsible gambling efforts.

Players now need to log in to gamble on slots, and will have greater control to self-exclude from the terminals.