Who Will Win New York Giants vs. Washington? A.I. Predicts
Playing for pride in the NFC East.
The New York Giants are coming off one of the more shocking wins of the season with their overtime upset of the Kansas City Chiefs. Washington came up just short in its latest mammoth upset bid against the New Orleans Saints. Who will win this showdown of divisional rivals? A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts Washington will win.
The two teams enter this game a combined 6-14. In a crowded NFC playoff field, not even the relatively respectable Washington team has much of a shot at 4-6. That still leaves pride, though, and both teams figure to show up motivated to win. For New York, it’s to prove they are more the team that gutted out their second win than the team that racked up those eight losses. For Washington, it’s the knowledge that a 5-6 record doesn’t totally eliminate them from contention, though 4-7 probably does.
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From their last meeting on New Year's Day 2017.
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.
The hive mind predicts Washington will win here. It’s only a low confidence pick, but there’s 89 percent brainpower behind it, meaning almost nobody was pulling for New York at all.
The swarm predicts Washington will win by four to six points, with 85 percent brainpower behind that prediction. The Vegas line currently favors Washington by more than that, with the line at 7.5 points.
The game kicks off 8:30 p.m. Eastern Sunday on NBC.
