6,000 Care Calls Per Year: How Finland Uses AI to Prevent Gambling Harm

Gambling Harm Prediction Model

Veikkaus has developed an AI system — the Gambling Harm Prediction Model — that analyses player behaviour in real time. The model monitors login frequency, wagered amounts, time of play, and escalating behaviour patterns. When the system identifies a player as at-risk, it triggers a layered intervention process.

The first step is automated: digital messages are sent to the player. If the risk profile persists or escalates, the system triggers a personal “care call” — a phone call from a real Veikkaus employee. During these calls, staff discuss the player’s gambling habits, review their activity, and offer support and referral to professional services.

This is not a chatbot or an automated recording. These are genuine conversations between trained employees and players whose behaviour patterns have been flagged by artificial intelligence. Over 6,000 such calls are made every year, with 1,400 specifically targeting young adults aged 18–24 — the demographic most vulnerable to developing gambling problems.

The Numbers

Metric	Figure
Care calls per year	6,000+
Care calls to young adults (18–24)	1,400
Behaviour change rate	3% (target: 4%)
Loss concentration from high-volume players	14.3% (target: 13.2%)
Harm research budget	€3.3M/year
Registered customers	2.67 million
Active players	2.27 million

Veikkaus’ behaviour change target of 4% has not yet been reached — the current rate stands at 3%. Similarly, the loss concentration from high-volume players remains at 14.3%, above the 13.2% target. These figures demonstrate both ambition and transparency: Veikkaus publishes targets it has not yet met, something virtually unheard of among commercial operators.

The Toolkit

The AI care calls are just one component of a comprehensive harm prevention system. Veikkaus has built the most advanced player protection infrastructure in the Nordics, covering every channel and every player:

• 100% identified play — all channels, including coupon games since December 2023. Every wager is tied to a verified identity.
• Mandatory transfer limits — daily and monthly limits. Decreasing the limit takes effect immediately; increasing it requires a cooling-off period.
• Time reminders — after 60 minutes of online play and after 15 minutes on slot machines.
• Panic Button — immediate shutdown of all play. The account stays closed until the end of the following day at minimum.
• Nightly transaction stop — no deposits or play during specified night-time hours.
• Automatic marketing blocking — players identified as at-risk are automatically excluded from all marketing communications.
• Centralised self-exclusion register — a national register covering all licensed operators, effective from 2027.

Taken together, these tools form a system where identification, limits, monitoring, AI-driven intervention, and self-exclusion work in concert. No other Nordic country has anything comparable.

What Offshore Operators Offer: Nothing

The contrast with the offshore market is stark. According to H2 Gambling Capital data, 76.6% of the online casino market and 72% of betting in Finland is controlled by offshore operators. These operators offer none of the protections described above — no AI care calls, no mandatory limits, no player identification, no panic button, no nightly stops, no marketing restrictions.

Research from THL (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) shows that 93% of Finns with gambling problems use the internet as their primary gambling channel. The overwhelming majority of these players are gambling with offshore operators that have no obligation — and no incentive — to intervene when behaviour becomes harmful.

The gap between the state-operated system and the offshore market is not marginal. It is total. One side has 6,000 care calls per year; the other has zero.

Generative AI: The Next Step

In 2025, Veikkaus launched an internal generative AI tool available to all 1,194 employees. The tool is designed to support product development, customer service, and operational efficiency. While not directly tied to harm prevention, it represents a continued investment in AI capability across the organisation.

Veikkaus invested €30.7 million in product development out of a total investment budget of €53.7 million — an unusually high ratio for a company undergoing a market transition. The harm research budget alone stands at €3.3 million per year, funding ongoing work on the Gambling Harm Prediction Model and related interventions.

Sweden: “Not Effective”

The Finnish system gains further context when compared to Sweden. In February 2026, Riksrevisionen (the Swedish National Audit Office) published a scathing report (RiR 2026:1) concluding that Swedish gambling harm prevention efforts are “not effective”. Child protection was singled out as “particularly inadequate”.

The Swedish numbers are grim: 350,000 problem gamblers, 40,000 children affected, and a social cost estimated at SEK 11.5 billion per year. Sweden does have Spelpaus.se — a voluntary self-exclusion system — but it lacks the proactive, AI-driven approach that Finland has built. No care calls. No predictive model. No automated intervention before harm escalates.

Finland’s system is proactive: the AI identifies risk and the organisation acts. Sweden’s system is reactive: players must recognise their own problem and voluntarily exclude themselves. The difference in outcomes is predictable.

The Future: New Operators, Same Requirements?

Finland’s gambling market opens to licensed competition in July 2027, with 40–50 licence applications expected. The new legislation requires identification of all players, mandatory limits, and participation in the national self-exclusion register.

But the law does not explicitly require AI-driven harm prevention. This raises a critical question: will the new operators be held to the same standard as Veikkaus? Will they need to build their own version of the Gambling Harm Prediction Model? Will they make care calls?

The risk is clear. If the licensing framework sets a lower bar than what Veikkaus currently delivers, the market opening could result in a net reduction in player protection — even as the regulatory framework nominally improves. The tools exist. The question is whether the political will exists to mandate them.

“Finland has shown that technology and consumer protection need not be in conflict. 6,000 care calls per year from a state-owned company — that is the ambition level. The question is whether the 40–50 licence applicants share that ambition.”

— Tommi Korhonen, CEO, Bonusetu.media