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Increased usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, excusing the obvious pun, become a game-changer within the games industry itself. Both for developers and players alike, machine learning is shaping how games are produced and the ways human users interact. 

Counting on useful applications in Blackjack

Doing a quick search on google for “Artificial Intelligence Blackjack” produces intriguing results. Most of the top listings tend to be offering AI software and bots, claiming to improve the probabilities of success for blackjack players, using reinforcement learning and other strategic methods to count cards.

In fact, the study of such practical applications has been around for some time, particularly relating to machine learning associated with searching for optimal card counting strategies. One academic article focused on an algorithm based around the “ten-count” standing-number strategy, published by the Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference over thirty years ago in 1992: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0378375892900019 Links to an external site.

Nevertheless, both physical and online casinos tend to be highly alert when it comes to card counting. While doing so using the human brain is not considered cheating in blackjack, doing so using AI tools and bots can quickly get players banned if they are detected. Indeed, many casinos actually use AI tools of their own to detect possible cheats, while online sites have algorithms in place that continually monitor the fairness and transparency of games.

Given the rise in popularity of online gambling in Australia, legitimate blackjack sites have deployed their own AI to provide various benefits. These include analysing player behaviour to assist with both marketing and responsible gambling, improving safety and security, and helping to improve the responsiveness of customer service attention. These are key elements highlighted in expert reviews: https://www.casinoaus.net/casino-games/online-blackjack/ Links to an external site.

Legitimate casino gaming and blackjack sites available to Australian have strict rules, especially when real money is involved. They must adhere to stringent regulations, typically enforced by organisations who govern and licence gambling operators. Australian operators are governed by several, including ACT Gambling and Racing Commission in New South Wales. Leading international bodies include UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gambling Authority.

Aiding development and enhancing user experience

The usage and deployment of AI in video games continues to increase, aimed at creating engaging and more realistic gameplay experience. This can most commonly be observed from non-player characters (NPCs), which typically feature various AI algorithms, ranging from decision-making and pathfinding to learning and reactive models.

When deployed well, AI helps to improve and enhance the user experience. Aside from producing more intelligent NPCs for players to interact with, machine learning contributes towards eliminating predictability in game design, reacting to human input in millions of uniquely different ways. Modern games also feature NPCs that are capable of reacting in more human-like ways, adapting their own success or failure and the actions of users.

Game designers are also encountering many benefits associated with AI, such as enhanced analytics and procedural content generation (PCG), which speeds up the development process by saving time and resources. For example, some AI algorithms can instantly generate 3D models via simple text inputs, while others are capable of designing entire game levels and suggesting improvements.

One basic example of PCG in action would be recent iterations of the Borderlands series, developed by 2K Australia, which has algorithms that monitor player levels and locations, automatically scaling and generating weapons they encounter throughout the game. Indie developer Hello Games used AI driven PCG to create whole galaxies and planets, including all their flora and fauna in No Man’s Sky, the open world space adventure.

Incredibly, the AI featured in No Man’s Sky is capable of generating more than 18 quintillion planets, replete with all their textures, terrains, and animations, capable of doing so within minutes. This would be impossible for any human design team to achieve, and as the scope of possibilities that AI brings to the table increases, it’s easy to understand why machine learning and adaptive algorithms will become central in games production over the coming years.