More Than Luck

“AI? That foolishness ended a century ago thanks to … who had that incident? Banana, kumquat, some stupid fruit.”

“Apple, sir.”

“Yes, that’s the one. And you have the nerve to come here peddling that same nonsense?”

“But, sir, ours works.”

The giant form of the casino boss leaned forward. With a snarl he said, “Prove it.”

“He’s playing at your tables, now.”

The boss looked to his assistant.

“I .. I .. I knew nothing of this, sir.”

“Show me.”

“He’s at the roulette table.”

A giant screen clicked on, and a birds eye camera focused on the roulette table.

A small man was surrounded by a growing crowd of onlookers. A large pile of chips was pushed towards him. He had just won, again.

“Luck! He will lose. They all do eventually.”

“Sixteen.”

“What?”

The man held out a device. On it was the number sixteen against a red background. “He has a similar system embedded in his glasses, running the same algorithm. The next number he will choose is sixteen, and he will win, again.”

Eyes narrowed, the casino boss turned back to the screen. The wheel was spinning. The crowd leaned in, tension building. The ball bounced once, twice, three times, and then the crowd roared. It had landed in the slot marked red sixteen.

The screen clicked off.

“How did you get it past the scanners?”

“They don’t scan for AI. It’s, as you said, nonsense.”

With a sinister smile, the casino boss said, “Quite so. Let’s talk.”