Who Will Win New York Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals? A.I. Predicts
A pair of nightmare seasons draw to a close.
The Arizona Cardinals were rocked by injuries and came up short in their last-ditch effort to sneak into the playoffs. The New York Giants collapsed from pretty much the start. A hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predicts the Cardinals will win Sunday.
This is a tough game to predict, considering neither team has much of anything to play for. The Arizona Cardinals face an uncertain offseason where their coach, quarterback, and franchise icon — in wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald — could all retire. The New York Giants are officially starting over after a complete shambles of a year that saw the firing of both coach and general manager, plus what turned out to be the wholly unnecessary one-week benching of Eli Manning. This game has preseason-quality stakes, basically.
From their last game in 2014.
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 an English Premier League slate earlier this season.
The swarm predicts the Cardinals will win, a pick made with low confidence and 86 percent brainpower.
The hive mind predicts the Cardinals will win by four to six points, with 84 percent brainpower behind that pick. The Vegas line has the Cardinals by five points.
The game kicks off 4:25 p.m. Eastern Sunday on Fox.
