IGSA readies AI guidelines for gambling regulators, to better understand the technology

Speaking to iGB in an interview this week, IGSA president Mark Pace said AI was the group’s main technology focus currently. As a result, the NGO is gearing up to publish a set of “best practices” for AI deployment within the gambling sector.

Founded in 1998, the IGSA brought together industry players from across 20 companies to form a non-profit organisation. Today the entity develops standards and best practices for suppliers, operators and regulators. Members of the organisation include European gaming giants IGT, Merkur, Novomatic and Intralot.

IGSA operates offices in Macau, Malta and Tokyo. Its most recent unit expansion was into the African market in 2023.

As part of its work on AI, it established an ethical AI standards committee (AIC) to standardise the use of AI technologies in the industry. The committee sought to provide stakeholders with a framework on how they can adopt AI standards, the correct use of the technology and how to approach it.

It also sought out best practices on AI use across other sectors, to be adapted and adopted for use in the global gaming industry.

“What we’re doing is creating a set of the best practices that we could give to regulatory authorities to help them understand what they should focus on in terms of AI,” Pace said.

“Everything these days seems to be AI powered, right? Your coffee cup is AI powered, your tea kettle is AI powered. It’s just crazy how AI seems to, from a marketing perspective, have become this pervasive technology. Regulators are not immune to that marketing.”

Regulators don’t need a deep understanding of AI

The IGSA is already in communication with several regulators about the use of AI and how best to approach the sector’s rapidly growing adoption of the technology, from a regulatory perspective. So far the IGSA shared eight best practices for AI use with these regulatory bodies and requested their input.

Pace told regulators that while it is good to have an understanding of how AI works, they shouldn’t aim for a developer level of understanding it.

“I talked to regulators who tell me they have tried to understand how AI algorithms have been developed. They’re trying to do a deep dive into AI, and I tell them, ‘You’re wasting your time’,” Pace said.

“What you need to focus on are things like, ‘What data are you going to let the AI algorithms consume? What is the accuracy level of the data? Does the data already have an inherent bias in it?’ Because, you know, the old adage of garbage in, garbage out, never applied more than to AI algorithms.”

Pace said the transparency and accessibility of AI algorithms and applications will also be crucial for regulators. Identifying the developers that have responsibility for shutting down AI programmes that have gone wrong is also extremely important.

AI guidelines will differ across each regulatory environment

The IGSA president said the non-profit would consider additional best practices to include in its guidelines. As AI technology is continuously growing and evolving, he said the framework should also adapt.

The guidelines will likely differ between markets depending on each market’s specific regulatory environment.

“Every jurisdiction will have to make changes to these guidelines to make them fit their regulatory environment. However, the [general guidelines] will focus the regulators on what to worry about, not generative AI algorithms that are by their nature going to change anyway,” Pace added.

Mark Pace will be speaking at the upcoming Payments, Fraud & Compliance Gaming Leaders’ Summit. This is an invite-only, in-person event for selected senior leaders, decision-makers and budget-holders in the igaming industry.

The event will run on 20 and 21 May 2025.