Can Chatbot and Live Chat sessions identify gambling addiction early?

Gaming industry professionals understand the need to help mitigate gambling addiction. No one I have met in the Gaming industry wants to contribute to addiction. On a business level, many licensed gaming companies operate within strict regulatory frameworks which can enact tough regulatory fines for failing to identify and support gambling addicts. All of these factors sum up to create a strong desire for gaming companies to identify addictive behaviours as early as possible but many struggle to fulfill this in a holistic way. But it's not an easy task. There is a lot of nuance and data patterns are clues not definitive proof of what is happening. In 2024, there are 3 core ways that companies can monitor and identify addiction:

1.??????? Financial Transactions / Betting Patterns – designed to see frequency of play, amounts wagered, time spent on site, etc. Triggers occur when frequency of play increases, amounts increase, and time site increases beyond certain thresholds.

2.??????? Monitoring Communications / Behavioral Analytics – Most companies train live agents and a small number also leverage AI to monitor player chatbot dialogues, live chat sessions, chat logs and live calls or IVR sessions. They watch for sentiment, expressions, clusters of words and keywords that are known indicators to addiction.

3.??????? Self-Assessment Tools – questionnaires, forms or surveys designed to encourage players to share their habits. When players are willing to share challenges or are answering in a certain way companies can identify addictive behaviours.

Once a correct identification occurs there are a range of different responses from information sharing to permanent account closure.

Before any of these things can happen the players addiction must be identified and ideally as early as possible.

This article is about the second item on the list – monitoring communications and behavioral analytics.

As players increasingly turn to virtual assistants, live chat agents and IVR or voice options to get support and engage while gambling or betting, it is a golden opportunity to put communication and engagement monitoring in place.

The key to communications and engagement monitoring is to watch for sentiment, expressions, clusters of words and key words. Unfortunately, there are no clear-cut standards for what words to watch. MGA, UKGC, OGC, NGKB and others have put in place a desire to see player communications vetted for these behaviours but no clear guidance on exactly how to accomplish this. So how can you do this proactively? What should you be looking for and what specific terms clustered can be yellow or red flags when it comes to addictive behavior?

Here are specific expressions, clusters and key words to monitor across 10 different key addiction indicators:

Indicator 1: Persistent Need

One key element to addiction is the player feeling like they are getting pulled into a gravity well they cannot escape from. This manifests as a need or a constant desire to be gambling. This is an intense feeling akin to being separated from something which you need to be near or doing. Many addicts describe not being able to think about anything other than getting back to the gambling table. This persistent need can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “I cannot seem to stop thinking about gambling”

·????? Subtle: “Day 11 at the table! I am on a streak!”

·????? 10 keywords to watch for especially in clusters: can’t, always, quit, stop, trouble, resist, need, urge, feel, pull

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"I lost everything I had. But I kept going back."?Source: This quote is from a gambling addict named John, as reported in an article by The New York Times titled "After Addiction Comes Debt at the Casino," published on May 12, 2018.

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Indicator 2: Increasing Bets

Another key area of concern is what a gambler starts to drastically increase the size of their bets especially after losses. This behaviour for many gamblers is financially unsustainable. The player will get increasingly desperate as their debts mount. This escalation in betting amounts need can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “How big of a bet can I place?”

·????? Subtle: “How much should I increase my bets by?”

·????? 10 keywords to watch for especially in clusters: raise, stakes, more, larger, wager, ante, max, bigger, bet, gamble.

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Indicator 3: Chasing losses

Chasing losses is a way to not only justify the addiction of gambling but also to address the feelings of loss when a player loses money. The sense is that a win is just around the corner and if you quit now, you will not get to the win. As players keep turning the corner only to see more losses, they either withdraw (normal behaviour) or they commit even harder and lose more (problem behaviour). ?This desire to chase losses can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “I need one big win to cancel out this bad run of luck”

·????? Subtle: “6 losses, surely I must be close to winning!”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: recover / recovery, regain, recoup, restore, bounce, make up, lose / losses, keep, playing, desperate.

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It's an illness that you can't see. People don't understand that it's not about the money; it's about the chase."?Source: This quote is from a gambling addict named Sarah, as reported in an article by CNBC titled "Inside the brain of a gambling addict: Researchers probe compulsive gamblers' risk-taking," published on February 21, 2019.

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Indicator 4: Neglecting Responsibilities

Much like any addictive behaviour some individuals become so obsessed with gambling that they fail to meet critical duties in their lives like tending to relationships, work and even taking care of basic aspects of life like health and hygiene. This neglect of responsibilities can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “I can’t remember the last time I took a shower!”

·????? Subtle: “Is it possible to set active reminders like alarms while I am gambling?”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: skipping, missing, duties, ignoring, neglecting, obligations, deadlines, work, putting off, responsibilities.

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Indicator 5: Borrowing Money

Gambling of course takes finances to sustain. If a gambling addict is losing more money than they can afford they will often seek out loans via credit cards, banks, relatives or other money lending avenues. This of course places them in an even more precarious situation as they will then owe that lender as well as interest in addition to any other debts they have incurred. This borrowing behaviour can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “I maxed out my cards to make this deposit”

·????? Subtle: “Is it possible to over draw on my account?”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: loan, borrow / borrowing, help, financial, funds, assistance, debt, credit, cash, overdrawn.

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Indicator 6: Lying & Concealing

Many gambling addicts have to conceal their activities from loved ones, friends, colleagues and debt collectors. In order to continue to gamble they will often feel the need to conceal their behaviour so they can continue to gamble. The concealment of gambling or lying can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “My mom gave me money to fix my car, but I needed it to gamble”

·????? Subtle: “My husband thinks I am taking an online course LOL”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: cover / covering, truth, lie / lying, hiding, conceal / concealing, mask / masking, excuse / excuses, secret / secrets, anonymous, deceiving.

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Indicator 7: Restriction Frustration

Gambling addicts will get very anxious if they are unable to play. This will represent itself in frustration or overly emotional responses to any hindrance to the gaming process. This irritation can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: ““This cooling off period is total bull$#!#!”

·????? Subtle: “Is there a way we can end this cooling off period early?”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: frustrated, annoyed, angry, upset, glitches, issues, preventing, stopping, disappointed, demand.

Indicator 8: Escape Gambling

Many addicts see a specific addictive behaviour as an escape or way of avoiding everyday life or problems they are dealing with. Examples are job loss, divorce, loss of a loved one, injury, etc. This desire to escape can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: “Gambling allows me to forget about X”

·????? Subtle: “Sometimes I lose all track of time”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: break, escape, numbs / numbing, avoid / avoiding, distract / distraction, forget / forgot / forgotten, peace / peaceful, trapped, mind, reality.

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"I would feel numb when I was gambling. I didn't have to think about my problems."?Source: This quote is from a gambling addict named Jane, as reported in an article by Psychology Today titled "Understanding the Mind of the Pathological Gambler," published on December 20, 2016.

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Indicator 9: Ignoring Warnings

Many addicts are given all kinds of feedback by themselves, friends, family, colleagues and even operators but they refuse to see the warning signs. They continue to gamble even though the world is telling them to slow down. This failure to see warning signs and self defense of gambling can be identified when communicating with an agent or chatbot:

·????? Obvious: ““My wife doesn’t understand in gambling losing streaks happen. I will win back that $5,000”

·????? Subtle: “I told my boyfriend I will quit gambling if he quits video games”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: ?control, handle it, hobby, choice, limits, fun, harmless, over reaction, understand, stop.

Indicator 10: Extreme Emotions

In some senses this category can be married to many others above but it is a sense it covers all emotions felt by addicts which can vary between extreme happiness to extreme sadness and anger. Watching for emotional mood swings is a key aspect of identifying gambling addicts.

·????? Obvious: “I can’t go on losing like this. I am starting to feel hopeless.”

·????? Subtle: “$2,000 lost on a Roulette Table in 2 hours. This is the worst day of my life”

·????? 10 Keywords to watch for especially in clusters: desperate, hopeless, elated, happy, depressed, overwhelmed, miserable, sad, believe, stunned.

The Next Giant Leap: Monitoring Automation with AI

Because chatbots and live chat agents are incredible now and benefit from advanced AI ... did you know they can do the following to help you?

1. Proactively engage players on a site who are exhibiting worrying signs (high losses, drastically increased frequency of play or time playing, etc.)
2. Monitor for key terms (like the ones above) 24/7 automatically and then trigger actions based off of them
3. Send notifications or route immediately to specific staff trained in handling addiction
4. Serve up information that is specific to that player based on the level of concern (web resources, videos, helpful surveys, self-assessments, etc.)
5. Trigger cooling off periods for signs of addiction automatically
6. Provide agents with immediate canned text or responses when handling potentially addicted players
7. Write concerns or alerts into CRM records
8. Provide notifications for supervisors or managers to monitor or jump into chatbot engagements or live chat sessions
9. Do mass outreach to players with resources and self-assessments or promotions to engage in content related to addiction avoidance
10. Much more...

?Conclusion:

Addiction detection requires nuance and it is an aggregation of data across multiple sources and training for staff. The key is to create experiences that support all players 24/7 and to be proactive. The goal is not to disrupt players who are enjoying the experience. The goal is to see the early warning signs of addiction and put in place an experience that helps to guide that player to understand what is happening and then show them a healthier set of patterns to follow.

What have you seen out there to add to this list? What terms have you found the most important in terms of identifying problem player behaviours?

My next article will be about some of the ways you can reach out and some of the tools you can use which are automated or live people to help depending on when the behavior is identified.

Some additional interesting resources:

1. Development of the Online Problem Gaming Behavior Index
2. The Fine Line: When Does Social Use Become Addiction?
3. Experimental Overnight Campaign Manages to Reach 'Hidden' Problem Gamblers After All

If you want to learn more about how to do this, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected].

#gamblingaddiction #onlinegaming #responsiblegaming #gamingindustry #digitalhealth