Monday, the first afternoon of the Indian Gaming Association conference, was dedicated to artificial intelligence. There were multiple back-to-back seminars on the topic, with the last one featuring John Acres.
Acres is perhaps the antithesis of AI. His casino career, which began in the mid-1970s, is a testament to brilliant human intelligence, not a bit of it “artificial.” He created the entire category of player tracking systems, developed the first rewards and bonusing strategies, and led the industry to innovative progressive systems. Some might call him old school, but it may be more accurate to say that he founded the school.
Yet, despite his legendary history, during his presentation, Acres was as much focused on the future as anyone in Silicon Valley. He seemed almost giddy with the potential of AI in the world of gaming operations.
He said that “AI can find patterns in data” that were previously hidden, but more importantly, it can “take action based upon those patterns.” He added that these new systems can both learn and adapt.
Interestingly, he also cited AI’s ability to protect players by “not enticing them to spend more than they have” and making sure we “don’t take all their money.”
He said that AI has several “superpowers” that other technologies can’t match: “speed, repeatability, 24/7 continuity and persistence, and cloning.” That last “power,” according to Acres, is the fact that AI doesn’t give up; it just keeps trying to get better. In addition, it will not hesitate to repeat or “clone” strategies that work.
While enthusiastic, he did cite some downsides about our AI future. For one, the current products are “immature” and require diligent oversight. He also reminded everyone that “the bad guys also have AI,” referring to fraud potential. He then modified that with “the other guys also have AI.” Still, he cautioned that if you don’t stay current, the competition might take advantage of your weakness in AI to gain a competitive advantage.
He began his presentation with a short history of his beginnings with mechanical slot machines and quoted Las Vegas pioneer Benny Binion, who told him, “People hate to be fooled, but they love to fool themselves.” He said that AI “can provide us with ways to give them reasons to fool themselves in an honest way” by using data that recognizes each player as “unique in their emotions and budgets. AI can provide those types of individualized pricing and incentives.”
He urged the audience to “imagine you’re inside a slot machine, looking out at the player. Are they happy even as they’re losing? AI can help us do that.”
After developing and selling several slot/marketing systems, he (along with his sons) is once again at the forefront of system technology, offering a new foundation product from Acres Manufacturing that incorporates many of the AI features he discussed in his presentation.
