Artificial intelligence is leading to some surprisingly robust advances in the field of digital gaming. One of the most important contributions of artificial intelligence is with geolocation technology.
Geolocation technology is something that does not get a lot of discussion among everyday people that have expressed an interest in online gaming. However, people working in the gaming industry recognize how essential it is. Earlier versions of geolocation technology were rather limited in their capacity. Artificial intelligence is changing this in many ways. A number of AI tools are able to improve geolocation abilities of mobile technology, but desktop geolocation is equally impressive.
Why is artificial intelligence necessary to enhance geolocation capabilities for gaming providers?
Laypeople don’t appreciate the significance of geolocation technology outside of using navigation tool like Google Maps. However, it is actually very important for gaming providers. Here are some reasons it is necessary:
- Gaming laws are different across jurisdictions. Some regions completely ban digital gaming, such as the United States. Gaming providers need to identify users in prohibited areas and restrict their access to the site. If the gaming providers don’t do this successfully, then they will risk being fined.
- Taxation works differently in different countries. Gaming providers need to accurately identify the location of users, so they can make sure that the right value added tax is applied.
- Gaming providers need to accurately track users to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. They need to be able to properly target users in different regions that have shown the most interest.
- The offers that the gaming site offers may differ by region. They obviously need to accurately identify the location to determine this.
Before the proliferation of artificial intelligence, gaming providers relied almost entirely on IP addresses to determine the location of their users. Unfortunately, this was far from a foolproof approach. There are at least a couple reasons that IP address is alone make for poor geolocation technology:
Users often use VPN tools to access websites through dummy IP addresses. This is particularly common for people in areas where digital gaming is prohibited, because they can use a VPN to access the site anyways.
There is a margin of error with geolocation technology. When the state of New Jersey first legalized online gaming, it needed to make sure that players outside the state were not able to get access to it. Unfortunately, due to inaccuracies in the technology, some people within the state lines were also been from accessing it.
Artificial intelligence mix geolocation technology more effective by evaluating other factors. Gaming providers have a good reason for not disclosing the exact metrics that they use, because they don’t want to risk getting fined by showing people in other jurisdictions how to illegally access their sites. However, there appear to be some variables that AI technology could use to be better at identifying user locations. Here are some factors companies like Playamo may use:
- Some tools can identify a user location by identifying images they use.
- Machine learning tools can probably trace user generated content and match it against the writing styles of people in different regions.
- AI may be able to look at bandwidth of online traffic and reference it against patterns from ISPs in different areas. ISPs probably have their own digital fingerprint, which the AI tools will be able to pick up on.
- AI may soon be able to identify unusual packet requests determine the likelihood that a user is using a VPN or not.
There are a lot of ways that artificial intelligence can make better estimations of user locations. This could go a long way towards stopping online fraud and minimizing the risk that people use the site from prohibited locations. More gaming providers will probably invest in this technology as its value becomes more evident.
What is the Future of Geolocation Tools in the AI Era?
AI technology is leading to some impressive changes in the online gaming industry. Few people considered how valuable AI would be for geolocation technology, but it is proving to have some very useful contributions. What is next for geolocation technology in a world governed by artificial intelligence?