Science

Who Will Win Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons? A.I. Predicts

It's a clash of AFC South rivals.

Getty Images / Steve Dykes

The Atlanta Falcons have cobbled together some much-needed wins after their disastrous tour of the AFC East. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain without their starting quarterback as their season all but slips away. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts the Falcons will win Sunday.

It’s probably best not to declare the Falcons are rolling back into Super Bowl form, even if they did just beat a couple of last year’s playoff participants in the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks, given both were dealing with injuries and other issues. But wins are wins, and the Falcons have a chance to get to a very credible 7-4 with five games to play if they can knock off a Buccaneers team that just isn’t all that great at anything.

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From their last meeting in 2016.

Getty Images / Brian Blanco

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. About 30 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 Louis 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. For instance, the swarm went a perfect 7-0 in its most recommended picks for a recent English Premier League slate.

Unanimous A.I.

The swarm was evenly split between picking Atlanta with low and high confidence, ultimately opting for the latter choice. There’s 76 percent brainpower by that prediction.

Unanimous A.I.

The hive mind predicts Atlanta will win by seven to nine points, with 87 percent brainpower behind that choice. The Vegas line has Atlanta by 9.5 points.

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

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