Science

Who Will Win Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Arizona Cardinals? A.I. Predicts

Can the Blaine Gabbert Revenge Game derail the Jaguars' dream season?

Getty Images / Gregory Shamus

The Jacksonville Jaguars are out to win their eighth game and clinch their first non-losing season since 2010. The Arizona Cardinals are trying to stave off the official end of their season with an upset at home. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts the Jaguars will win Sunday.

The Jaguars have now won four straight, pushing them way ahead of even what looked like their early-season schedule and keeping them squarely atop the wonky AFC South. To get to 8-3 and clinch an official end to their losing ways, they will need to beat an Arizona Cardinals team that is starting Blaine Gabbert, whom the Jaguars drafted after that 8-8 season in 2010. He was, like most things since that 8-8 season, a disaster in Jacksonville, but can he get revenge on his old team and deny them their eighth win for at least a week?

Subscribe to the Inverse newsletter. Trust us, we’re from the future.

From their last game in 2013.

Getty Images / Scott Cunningham

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 picks Jacksonville to win with high confidence, with 87 percent brainpower behind the prediction.

Unanimous A.I.

The hive mind likes Jacksonville to win by seven to nine points, with 83 percent brainpower behind the choice. The Vegas spread favors the Jaguars by just 4.5 points.

The game kicks off 4:25 p.m. Eastern Sunday on CBS.

Related Tags