Science

Who Will Win Arizona Cardinals vs. Indianapolis Colts? AI Predicts

Two teams hit hard by injuries look to get back on track.

Getty Images / Stephen Dunn

The Indianapolis Colts suffered the worst defeat of the NFL’s opening week, taking a 46-9 shellacking at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. Can they hope to do any better against another NFC West squad when the Arizona Cardinals come to town? A hive mind of more than 40 NFL fans don’t like their chances, picking Arizona to win this one easily.

It’s the second straight week the Cardinals are playing in a midwestern dome, and they’re hoping for a better experience than last week’s 35-23 loss to the Detroit Lions. The injury bug has hit both teams hard, with Colts quarterback Andrew Luck out until October, while Cardinals star running back David Johnson is out two to three months after injuring his wrist last week.

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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.

Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our previous article explains.

The swarm is feeling very good about Arizona’s chances, with an impressive 87 percent brainpower behind the high confidence pick. Look at the magnets: Almost nobody in the swarm even considered Indianapolis a serious threat to win, even at home.

Similarly, there’s little question for the swarm that Arizona will be able to pick up the win against the spread, which favors them on the road by more than a touchdown. That should be a tall order, especially with David Johnson out… but have you seen Andrew Luck’s backups lately?

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

If you liked this article, check out this video of Bob Ross (and his “happy little trees”) as seen through Google’s DeepDream A.I. program.

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