Can AI Help You Win The Lottery

With lottery fever sweeping the nation after a recent jackpot soared to a staggering $1.787 billion, everyone is asking the same question: How can I pick the winning numbers?

People have tried countless methods, from one winner who bought 162 identical lottery tickets to another who strategically purchased every possible number combination. But a new strategy is gaining traction online, and it involves asking an AI for help.

A TikToker's AI-Powered Winnings

A TikTok user named Ariel (@ariellab04) recently went viral after sharing how she and her boyfriend won $11 in the Powerball. While Ariel used meaningful numbers like family birthdays, her boyfriend took a more modern approach.

"My boyfriend asked ChatGPT what would be the winning numbers, and they gave him three of the numbers yesterday," Ariel explained in her video. Impressed by the AI's partial success, she's now considering switching her strategy. "I’m definitely going to ChatGPT it," she said.

Can ChatGPT Actually Predict Lottery Numbers

If you ask ChatGPT directly for winning lottery numbers, it won't give you a glimpse into the future. Instead, the Large Language Model will explain that lottery drawings are random and unpredictable. It might offer to generate a set of random numbers for you or provide strategies on how to pick less common numbers to avoid splitting a potential prize.

While an AI-generated number could theoretically be a winner, it's purely a matter of chance. Large language models like ChatGPT operate based on the vast amounts of information they were trained on. Since future lottery numbers are determined by a completely random process, there is no data for the AI to analyze to make an accurate prediction. Using ChatGPT to pick your numbers is functionally the same as choosing a randomly assigned quick-pick ticket.

Viral Trend or Winning Strategy

Ariel isn't the first person to claim success with an AI lottery assistant. In 2023, a user in Thailand reportedly won about $59 after using numbers generated by the service. Stories like these have fueled curiosity, as seen in the comments under Ariel's video.

One user commented, "I use WhatsApp’s ai and I won 7 dollars." However, others were more skeptical. "I asked chatgpt but it said I can not give you that information," another countered.

A third commenter pointed out the logical flaw in the strategy: "the amount of people who probably got the same numbers from AI so y’all going to share the pot with thousands of people if that was the case would be crazy too."