Science

NFL Week 6 Predictions: A.I. Predicts Los Angeles Rams vs. Denver Broncos

The unbeaten Rams visit the struggling Broncos, but who will win it? 

by T.E. Andrews
Javier Rojas/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

And then there were two. The 5-0 Rams (along with the Kansas City Chiefs, the only two unbeaten teams in the NFL) soar into Denver for this week’s matchup with the Broncos. The Billy Goats Gruff boast the League’s best offense (the fully-rebooted Greatest Show on Turf 2.0) and have spent the first five weeks of the season carpet-bombing their opponents into submission.

On the other sideline, the Broncos have fallen to 2-3, after getting shellacked by my beloved Jets last week. The Broncos’ defense – a one-time formidable unit – surrendered a franchise record 219 yards to running back Isaiah Crowell. Keep in mind that this proud franchise once employed the prodigious talents of Hall of Famer Curtis Martin as you realize just how far the Broncos have fallen. Under center, franchise quarterback Hey Darnold connected on a pair of deep parabolas to speedster Robby Anderson, and that was all she wrote. J-E-T-S‼

Barring a sudden onset of chaos theory, look for Los Angeles to renew its aerial assault. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh napalm in the morning. Rams 35, Broncos 17 is my prediction, but how did a swarm of NFL experts predict this match-up?

To predict the result of this Week 6 match-up, Unanimous A.I. used what’s known as swarm intelligence to forecast the week’s slate. Some 28 NFL enthusiasts 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 decision, it triggered a psychological response. They readjusted their decision-making, building toward the consensus you see below. It’s an artificial intelligence produced by human brains working together as a swarm.

No surprise here: With the 5-0 Rams the very likely winner in this game already, the swarm of NFL fans collectively faced the question of whether the Rams would beat the spread and win by at least a touchdown (plus the extra point) against the Broncos. With 76 percent brainpower, the swarm chose “low confidence” when asked if Los Angeles

The Rams play at the Broncos at 4:05 p.m. Eastern Sunday on Fox.

Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our this article explains. For instance, the swarm picked this year’s Oscar winners with 94 percent accuracy. Here’s Unanimous A.I. founder Louis Rosenberg explaining swarm intelligence at a recent TEDx Talk:

Want to join the hive mind that picks NFL matches every week? Sign up to participate in future predictions.

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