Following the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), legal sports betting has expanded rapidly throughout the United States, introducing a substantial number of new and often inexperienced bettors to the market. In this evolving landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), provides an accessible platform for individuals to research sports betting and address potentially sensitive inquiries regarding their gambling habits.
This project was awarded the UNLV Sports Innovation Institute Catalyst Grant, and is co-funded by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Playtech Plc. The project includes three integrated studies:
Evaluation of AI responses to problem gambling prompts using expert assessments - Published in the Journal of Gambling Studies https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-025-10430-x
A Turing test-style experiment to determine whether humans can distinguish between AI-generated and human-written responses to gambling help-seeking scenarios - Paper submitted
A study investigating how users leverage ChatGPT to acquire fundamental knowledge about sports betting and responsible gambling practices - in progress
The goal is to produce foundational knowledge surrounding the potential value in and pitfalls of using AI tools in supporting sports bettors.
Research Team
Kasra Ghaharian, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Samantha Wells, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Richard Young, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Lukasz Golab, University of Waterloo, Canada
Marta Soligo, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Piyush Puranik, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Michael McCreery, University of Nevada, Las Vegas