Who Will Win Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints? A.I. Predicts
The Saints are marching in.
The New Orleans Saints are the hottest team in the NFL, looking to win their sixth straight game after a disastrous-looking 0-2 start. Their division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers just want to end a miserable four-game losing streak. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts the Saints will win Sunday.
It’s hard to remember just how awful the Saints looked in their first couple games, with their defense looking lost and their once mighty offense seeming incapable of producing the high-volume scoring needed to compensate. Since then, though the Saints have mixed blowouts, shootouts, and weirdly gritty squeakers in reeling off five straight victories. Reaching the midway point at 6-2 would be an incredible accomplishment, and the Buccaneers haven’t shown much in recent weeks that they can stop New Orleans, especially in the Superdome.
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From their last meeting on Christmas Eve 2016.
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 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.
The hive mind feels extremely good about New Orleans, picking them to win with high confidence and 94 percent brainpower behind the pick.
The predicted margin of victory for the Saints is 10-12 points, with 84 percent of the swarm’s brainpower behind the choice. The Las Vegas line is seven points, making this one of the swarm’s most confident picks for betting purposes.
The game kicks off 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday on Fox.
