Stepping away from the SBC Summit in Lisbon, the industry’s clamour to embrace AI was undeniable.
‘How, why or when?’ were all questions that remained unanswered, but one thing was for sure, just like Cady and Megan, the industry was cosying up to the idea of an AI future.
As this future fast approaches and conversations become less conjectural and closer to implementation, the costly AI Deloitte debacle should add a layer of caution to how the technology is implemented in an industry where the bottom line is crucial.
Deloitte’s Australian arm was commissioned by Anthony Albanese’s government, specifically the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), to produce a report on the “targeted compliance framework”.
However, the report was fraught with errors largely as a result of Deloitte’s reliance on AI, causing a Labour Senator to accuse the consultancy giant of having a “human intelligence problem”.
At the heart of the issues were ‘AI hallucinations’, a prospect that should invoke fear into high-risk industries that are fawning over ex-machina energy and looking to accelerate the integration of AI into their operations.
In the case of Deloitte, AI didn’t just misunderstand the task; it went full Megan. Well, not quite, but it did fabricate research, provide fake citations and even showcased a fictional quote from a federal judge.
The government paid AU$440,000 (£230,000) to Deloitte for the report. The company has since agreed to return the final instalment of $290,000 (£141,607), after the myriad of errors in the report slipped past the Deloitte internal review and made it into the published report.
Adding a bewildering level of irony to the story is that the purpose of the report was to provide affirmation of a government penalty automation system.
iGaming has been somewhat overzealous in its strategy to embrace AI thus far, which is concerning in an industry where precision is absolutely crucial – with razor-thin margins as missteps lead to significant costs.
The Deloitte error highlights that automation on its own isn’t a sustainable future; in fact, in incapable hands, it becomes a detriment to accuracy and effective processes.
For iGaming, when the stakes are high, which they inevitably are, two of the most crucial ingredients are discipline and critical thinking. These, alongside new AI tech, can bring about that innovative dynamic ecosystem that we hear being visualised at iGaming conferences across the globe.
But be warned – those who become overreliant on automation or are incapable of properly using it risk hindering processes and rather than eliminating any risks, it serves to manufacture new liabilities.
