Science

Who Will Win Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings? A.I. Predicts

The Packers may be ready to start dominating.

by Alasdair Wilkins
Getty Images / Tom Pennington

The Green Bay Packers are 4-1 on the year, including a recent shellacking of their division rival Chicago Bears. They look to repeat that trick Sunday when they visit fellow AFC North team the Minnesota Vikings. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts Green Bay will win Sunday.

Green Bay has generally looked very good this year, routing the Bears, beating a pair of playoff teams in the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys, and taking their only loss to the Atlanta Falcons in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship. Take out a close victory over the struggling Cincinnati Bengals, and that’s a hell of a resume. The Minnesota Vikings don’t have all that, but for them this season has mostly been a matter of survival, as they have managed to get to a decent 3-2 even with one of the most injury-battered quarterback situations in the league.

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From their last meeting on Christmas Eve 2016.

Getty Images / Dylan Buell

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. 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 likes Green Bay here to win on the road with high confidence. The 87 percent brainpower behind the pick is high, especially when most of the dissent was still favoring Green Bay, just with low confidence.

Unanimous A.I.

The addition of the 3.5-point line didn’t change many minds here, with the swarm still picking with high confidence and 84 percent brainpower.

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

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