Machine Learning' Predicts The FIFA World Cup 2018 Winner!

How can we forget Paul the Octopus who predicted the winner of the world cup in 2010 which had gone viral globally? The Octopus used the flags of both the teams, which were presented in front of him in a box before a game, and the winning team would be selected the box from which Paul would eat first. Paul had 12 correct predictions out of 14.

The result of any given sports game is unpredictable, yet we humans try and predict results either on the basis of statistical analysis, or simply a hunch. Predicting the winner of any a game is part of the game viewing experience and has been a crucial selling point for the betting industry since the beginning. Another interesting method to predict results of games has recently surfaced: Prediction by using Machine Learning, in which the winner of the game or the tournament is predicted by companies who've used several different algorithms to predict these results.

Below are some of the companies that used Machine Learning to predict the results of the FIFA World Cup 2018

Prediction by the Technical University of Dortmund In Germany

An algorithm was developed by a team which included researchers from German Technische Universitat of Dortmund, the Ghent University in Belgium, and the Technical University in Munich. The algorithm is fed data which ran approximately 100,000 simulations to predict Spain as the winner.

Prediction by a San Francisco Based Tech Firm - Unanimous AI

San Francisco based technology firm Unanimous AI tried, their hands on the this. Here is what their Founder & CEO had to say "These predictions were generated using swarm A.I. technology" Further, the founder & CEO stated that "This means it uses a unique combination of human insights and artificial intelligence algorithms, resulting in a system that is smarter than the humans or the machines could be on their own. It works by connecting a group of people over the internet using A.I. algorithms, enabling them to think together as a system, and converge upon predictions that are the optimized combination of their individual knowledge, wisdom, instincts, and intuitions". The final outcome of their simulation pointed that Germany will defeat Brazil in the finals.

Prediction by Goldman Sachs

Technology Teams within this American multinational investment bank, have also tried its hands on predicting the FIFA World Cup winner of 2018, and their machine learning program has given them a final test result. The winning team predicted by Goldman Sachs, using machine learning in Brazil.

Though there are several technology teams within start-ups, to enterprise companies around the globe, which are using such Machine Learning algorithms and AI technologies to predict the FIFA 2018 World Cup winner, it seems however, everyone will have to wait to until the Final Game until they find out if the hard work they've put in over the past months and years, has managed to achieve the desired results indeed.

Originally Published on https://www.globaltechinsights.com/machine-learning-predicts-the-fifa-world-cup-2018-winner/