Science

Week 8 NFL Predictions: Preview and A.I. Projected Winner for Redskins vs. Giants

"Swarm intelligence" has made its prediction.

by T.E. Andrews
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Georgia} Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

Listen, Giants — we need to talk. Are you sitting down? At first, it was good — we had our highlights, and yes, they were spectacular. You gave us not one, but two rings (and made the lights shine brighter in The City That Never Sleeps, while reminding Boston of its inferior status as a second-rate hamlet). We’ll always be grateful. But all that was a long time ago now. Before the tantrums, before all the fighting and the drama. Before you got old. You had to have known this was coming.

This isn’t easy for us, either. You know we have a thing for blondes. But this just isn’t working out. It’s not you, it’s us. Actually… you know what? I’m sorry — it IS you. We just can’t pick you anymore. Washington 27, Giants 20 is my prediction but how did an A.I.-powered swarm of real-life NFL experts predict the winner of this game?

To predict the result of this Week 8 match-up, Unanimous A.I. used what’s known as swarm intelligence to forecast the week’s slate. Some 24 NFL enthusiasts 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 decision, it triggered a psychological response. They readjusted their decision-making, building toward the consensus you see below. It’s an artificial intelligence produced by human brains working together as a swarm.

As you can see, the swarm also predicts that Washington will win this game against the Giants, and it has high confidence that Washington will beat the 1-point spread.

Washington plays at the Giants at 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday on Fox.

Unanimous A.I. has made some scarily accurate predictions in the past using swarm intelligence, as our this article explains. For instance, the swarm picked this year’s Oscar winners with 94 percent accuracy. Here’s Unanimous A.I. founder Louis Rosenberg explaining swarm intelligence at a recent TEDx Talk:

Want to join the hive mind that picks NFL matches every week? Sign up to participate in future predictions.

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