South Korea’s Leading ICT industries Continue to Invest on AI Infrastructure Innovations
The driver of South Korea’s economic success is its innovative Information and Communication Technologies, being home to world leaders in IT and electronics.
Companies like Samsung, LG, SK Hynix and Naver continue to boost the country’s reputation as the most innovative ICT powerhouse by focusing their investments in furthering the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructures, 5G Network and Big Data. The Republic of Korea (ROK) government has in fact announced plans to invest in AI infrastructures, in recognition of the technology’s significant impact across all industries.
Will the ROK Government Include the Sports Betting Industry in Its AI Plans?
While sports betting is one such industry that has been making greater use of AI in developing more betting options, the ROK government though is not as keen on improving the gambling features of its Sports Toto entity. Despite legalizing sports betting in the country, the government’s drive is focused in the development and promotion of sports activities and not on the betting schemes arising from sporting events.
After all, the 2018 FIFA World Cup proved that the predictive capabilities of AI is not a sure fire guarantee on which to base sports betting decisions. South Koreans cannot forget how reality beat predictions when their national football team staged the biggest upset in World Cup history, by eliminating Germany’s team, which at the time was the defending champion.
How South Korea’s Taeguk Warriors Proved Betting Predictions Wrong
Recognized as the best in the world, it was natural for bookmakers to designate the German team as the most favored to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Yet the 2-0 loss it suffered at the hands of the South Korean team in the opening round, was a shocker in the world of sports betting.
While it spelled literal loss for the millions who staked wagers on Germany, it was total victory for many South Korean sports bettors. Despite SoKor’s status as the underdog of the match, most Koreans placed bets on the Taeguk Warriors out of their sense of nationalism.
No one can say it was computer error on the part of the AI that analyzed the team stats, since Germany entered the 2018 World as the defending champion. The upset staged by South Korea merely proved that while algorithms can calculate team stats and predict at which point players deliver the best performance, it cannot predict the underdog players’ motivation to rise to the occasion by delivering unexpected results; or of the possibility that the players of the favorite team will succumb to pressure.
The 2018 World Cup upset all the more fueled the ROK government’s determination to launch programs that will make the country’s sports achievements a source of national pride. Although the Taeguk Warriors went home early after suffering defeats dealt by Mexico and Sweden, their countrymen took pride in the fact that South Korea’s national football team outranked Germany in Group F, in terms of goal difference.
What we noted though is that the experience has made sports betting even more attractive to South Korea’s sports enthusiasts. Fortunately, there are trustworthy sportsbook operators who provide safe and secure sports betting sites or 토토사이트 that kept up with new developments in AI capabilities for predictive analyses.