Betting firms are installing Artificial Intelligence (AI) on all gaming machines which spots addictive behaviour and switches them off to stop punters playing….<\/p>\n
Betting firms are also introducing a separate mandatory automatic alert which triggers when any player has spent 20 minutes on a machine forcing them to take a shorter 20 second \u201ccooling off\u201d period with staff also alerted.<\/p>\n
Dr Alan Smith, the bishop of St Albans and a campaigner on gambling, said it was a \u201cfirst step\u201d but he questioned that 20 or 30 second breaks were too short and called for an independent academic review of its effectiveness.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is strange that industry chiefs are fighting any further regulation for their remote operations while at the same time trumpeting their efforts on the high street,” said Dr Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we have seen so far, however, continues to put the onus of responsibility on the consumer and not on the industry who are then free to create and then promote addictive gambling products.<\/p>\n