Jason Robins, chief executive officer of the American gambling giant DraftKings, has suggested that not all responsibility to overcome gambling addiction lies with the operators. While he acknowledged the companies’ important role in the process, he remained firm that there is also “some onus on the individual.”
In an interview with Fortune, Robins talked about AI-powered promotion amid concerns that it is going to exacerbate harm rates. The CEO said that he doesn’t believe that and explained that both operators and individuals must do whatever they can to mitigate the risks associated with gambling. Operators, for example, are responsible for identifying at-risk players, getting them the help they need and getting them to understand they need help.
However, it is ultimately up to the players to acknowledge that they need help and change their behavior, Robins concluded.
People who have gambling issues, they’re going to have a gambling issue. And the job is to help identify those people and get them the help and get them to understand they need help. It has to be on them to decide that they want to change that behavior.
Jason Robins, CEO, DraftKings
AI Can Also Mitigate Gambling Harm
During his interview with Fortune, Robins also addressed the use of AI in the identification of harm, saying that his company is not using such solutions currently. Robins added that his team does not want to attract problem players at all. According to him, his team is trying to instead build products that provide value to the people who “should be playing it.”
As for problem players, Robins said:
And the people who shouldn’t be playing it, you have to try to have them not play the product.
Jason Robins, CEO, DraftKings
While Robins acknowledged the benefits of identifying behavioral patterns, he noted that manual interventions would still be needed to truly tackle the issue.
Speaking of safer gambling efforts, DraftKings recently announced an expansion of its partnership with Kindbridge Behavioral Health, an organization specializing in problem gambling treatment. Under that deal, Kindbridge agreed to provide therapy and treatment in every jurisdiction where DraftKings’ online sports betting and iGaming products are available.
In the meantime, DraftKings continued its legal battle against Michael Hermalyn, the former head of the company’s VIP program, who allegedly misappropriated trade secrets.