Science

Who Will Win Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets? A.I. Predicts

The Jaguars look to build on last week's big win.

Getty Images / Rich Schultz

Almost out of nowhere, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked amazing last week, obliterating the previously undefeated Baltimore Ravens 44-7 in London. They have a chance to build on that against the lowly New York Jets, and a hive mind of more than 35 NFL fans like them to do exactly that and win Sunday.

This deep into Jacksonville’s multi-year rebuild, any positive steps are to be celebrated. Being 2-1 with a blowout win against a seemingly solid team like Baltimore is very much that, and a road game against the Jets — who had a solid first win of their own last week against the Miami Dolphins — is about as good a chance as any to prove the Jaguars are ready to keep improving.

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From their last meeting in 2015.

Getty Images / Al Bello

To predict the result of this and other games, Unanimous A.I. used what’s known as swarm intelligence to forecast the week’s slate. More than 40 NFL fans worked together as a hive mind to make picks. As you can see in the animation below, each participant controlled a little golden magnet and used it to drag the puck toward the answer they thought was the most likely outcome. As the users saw the puck move toward a particular outcome, it triggers a psychological response. They readjust their decision-making, building toward a consensus. Here’s Unanimous A.I. founder Lloyd Rosenberg explaining swarm intelligence at a recent TEDx Talk.

Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our previous article explains. Most recently, the swarm went a perfect 7-0 in its most recommended picks for last week’s English Premier League slate.

The hive mind is all in on the road team here, picking the Jaguars to win with high confidence. The pick has 85 percent of the swarm’s collective brainpower behind it, which isn’t as high as it could be, but is still a decently good vote of confidence.

Unanimous A.I.

The swarm had to think about this one, as you can see it switch directions mid-pick. But the choice was always just between picking Jacksonville to cover with high or low confidence. Ultimately, 79 percent of the swarm is feeling very good that Jacksonville can win on the road by more than three points.

The game kicks off 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday on CBS.

If you liked this article, check out this video of Google DeepMind teaching its A.I. how to dream.

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