Science

Who Will Win Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Pittsburgh Steelers? AI Predicts

It's a surprise clash of division leaders.

Getty Images / Tasos Katopodis

Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that this week five matchup would be between division leaders? That’s the situation as the Jacksonville Jaguars head to Pittsburgh Sunday, and a hive mind of about 30 NFL fans predict the Steelers will be the ones to live up to that status with a win on Sunday.

The Jaguars aren’t blowing any doors off at 2-2 — and it says a decent amount about the AFC South that that is good for a tie for the division lead — but they already crushed one AFC North stalwart two weeks ago when they beat the Baltimore Ravens 44-7. They will look to repeat that trick against the Steelers, who are coming off their own solid 26-9 win over that same Ravens team last week.

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From their last meeting in 2014.

Getty Images / Sam Greenwood

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 isn’t overthinking this one, despite the Jaguars’ relatively greater dominance of the Ravens. It picks the Steelers at home with high confidence and 89 percent brainpower.

Unanimous A.I.

The 8-point spread, however, is enough to give the hive mind some pause. The pick drops to low confidence with just 72 percent brainpower.

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

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