The general rule of gambling is that “the house always wins”. No matter the game, the odds are always stacked in favour of the casino and, according to Investopedia, “for every $1 million bet at the roulette tables…the casino expects to pocket a profit of slightly more than $50,000”. However, that knowledge is paradoxically what drives people back to the table—the odds may be stacked against them, but people will always love to think that they will be the ones who win big. And whether by counting cards or waiting it out for a slot machine that’s ready to drop the jackpot, humans have long tricks up their sleeve when it comes to trying to beat the house.
Of course, robots aren’t people, and artificial intelligence has already begun to turn old casino adage on its head. Libratus, an artificial intelligence bot built by a computer science professor and one of his PhD students, beat four of the world’s best poker pros in a twenty-day Texas Hold ‘Em tournament in 2017. The odds on Libratus winning were 4-1, and such was its success that it has now accepted a job planning war games for the Pentagon. Yes, really.
This isn’t the first time experts have been outsmarted by machines—from the Deep Blue computer defeating the world chess champion twenty years earlier to artificial intelligence analysing legal contracts more quickly and efficiently than experienced lawyers. It all points to a troubling future where robots might render us redundant.
But is it too early for us meatbags to start welcoming our new robot overlords? Here, we’ll take a look at a few of the biggest aspects of our lives to work out who will come out on top—man or machine.
Check out this cool infographic courtesy of Betway for some interesting nuggets on this topic.
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