The Bot 2.0: Revenge of the robot footy tipster. We give AI another chance to forecast the AFL finals

By Greg Dundas and The Bot

We gave our AI chat bot, The Bot, a second chance to forecast the AFL finals.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong

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Just like Melbourne and Port Adelaide, The Age’s AI footy tipping bot has been given a second chance this week.

Last week we introduced you to Bot-empelli and asked the artificial intelligence chatbot to forecast how the full AFL finals series would play out.

Things started poorly for “The Bot” when Collingwood overcame a prophecy of doom and accounted for Melbourne on Thursday night. But it bounced back with remarkable accuracy on Friday, and was just one point away from predicting Carlton’s win over Sydney perfectly – The Bot tipped the Blues by five points and they won by six!

There were mixed results again on Saturday, with St Kilda failing to deliver on The Bot’s faith, but the Brisbane Lions notching a win, as it was foretold they would.

Two from four was a decent result, but nowhere near as impressive as our own footy pundit Peter Ryan, who nailed all four winners in week one of the finals series to shoot to outright first position on The Age footy tipping chart, leapfrogging joint minor premiers Libby Birch and Jon Pierik.

So, we decided to give Bot-empelli a chance to redeem itself. Like last week, we armed The Bot 2.0 with all the results from the AFL season, this time adding in the outcomes of last week’s four matches. Then, we asked it to pick the winners of this week’s semi-finals and parlay those predictions into the rest of the finals series to identify who will be the 2023 premiers.

The result was vastly different to what The Bot forecast just seven days earlier, which just goes to prove the well-worn adage that a week is a long time in football.

The semi-finals

First semi-final
Melbourne v Carlton
MCG
7.50pm, Friday, September 15

Summary: “Blue heaven as Dees dive in straight sets.”
Peter Ryan’s prediction: “Melbourne by 22 points. They will bounce back ferociously having learnt the lessons from the qualifying final to start well and show more poise in the forward half. Carlton will rally but last week was their grand final.”
Libby Birch’s prediction: “Galvanised by the hit on Angus Brayshaw, Melbourne will win. They will challenge Carlton’s ability to defend the ground with their skilful ball movement.”

Second semi-final
Port Adelaide v Greater Western Sydney
Adelaide Oval
7.40pm (AEST), Saturday, September 16

Summary: “Ken they do it? Hinkley’s Power poised for preliminary final.”
PR: “GWS by 13 points. The Giants have a finals brand up and running with stars on every line while Port are banged up. Brent Daniels and Toby Bedford will make the Giants a different proposition compared to when the two teams last met.”
LB: “GWS are the in-form team of the competition with hunger to win like never before. They’re a dark horse for the premiership.”

Preliminary finals

Last week, our AI friend had the Demons as the premiers-elect. All they did was lose their qualifying final to Collingwood by seven points and now they’re gone in straight sets. Brutal. The other team exterminated by the robot in week two is the Giants. That leaves Collingwood and Port Adelaide to fight over more than the stripes on their guernseys, and Brisbane hosting the red-hot Blues. Let’s imagine how that will unfold.

First preliminary final
Collingwood v Port Adelaide
MCG

Summary: “Pies storm into decider after outing Power.”

Second preliminary final
Brisbane Lions v Carlton
Gabba

Summary: “Carlton’s run comes to an end as Lions roar into grand final.”

Grand final

Phew! Unlike the robot, I’ve got emotions, and this was a tough weekend to handle – two preliminary final thrillers; both decided by less than a goal. You couldn’t script it (author’s note: That is exactly what we are trying to do). Anyway, that brings us to the grand final. It’s the match-up we’ve all been waiting for: Craig McRae’s Magpies against his former club, the Brisbane Lions. Can Chris Fagan’s men rise up in front of the Magpie army? Let’s find out.

Grand final
Collingwood v Brisbane Lions
MCG
2.30pm, Saturday, September 30

Summary: “Lions beat Collingwood in grand final … again, win first flag in 20 years.”

So, that’s it. It’s going to be a Brisbane Lions premiership; so says the AI. Last week Bot-empelli predicted a Melbourne v Brisbane grand final, with the Demons winning by 10 points, but the results in week one of the finals series have clearly challenged its expectations. That said, for all the data that’s been analysed one fact remains in its robotic eyes: the Colliwobbles live on.

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