Again on the problems with technology that makes it more convenient to gamble away your money

This news article by Sheelah Kolhatkar on the stock-market gambling app Robinhood reminded me of the creepy story a decade ago about some sleazeballs who were using statistics to locate and manipulate gambling addicts so as to bust them out.

It’s complicated. On one hand, gambling is fun, when done in moderation it causes no harm, and these companies are providing a service by making it accessible to people, in the same way that supermarkets provide a service when they sell alcohol. On the other hand, there’s a clear motivation to cater to addicts and get them to spend more. No easy answers. I guess this is just a special case of a general problem of our society of abundance. As a statistician I’m particularly interested in gambling because of its connection to probability and uncertainty.