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ENThe Liiga season has challenged the AI – now it predicts Rauman Lukko as the champion
An unusually tight regular season has challenged both the AI and professional bettors. The fresh playoff bracket illustrates how the AI predicts the games will progress – leading to celebrations for the people of Rauma.
Digia's AI predicts that Lukko will celebrate the Finnish ice hockey championship, Ilves will take silver, and KalPa will win bronze. The prediction was updated on March 17th.
The prediction can be viewed on Digia's website.
Last season, the AI achieved an incredible 76 percent success rate. This season, the AI has given ice hockey fans more to be excited about, as the predictions have been more volatile.
"Now it seems that the AI has gathered enough data to start providing reliable predictions for this season," says Digia's Chief Technology Officer Juhana Juppo.
In December, the AI correctly predicted 10 out of 12 playoff teams. The top five and the final pair Lukko–Ilves were clear in February.
Changes and the league's tightness have challenged the AI
Last season, the AI settled on predictions around November, which it stuck to until the end of the season. Why has it taken longer for the AI to get the prediction on track this season?
Two things have made predictions difficult for both the AI and experts.
Firstly, the league has been exceptionally tight.
"I don't remember such a tight regular season. The point differences between teams have been marginally small," Juppo says.
Secondly, there have been many changes in the league this season, from team rosters to the league format. Kiekko-Espoo joined as a completely new team, so the AI didn't have data from last season to crunch.
"Almost everything changed, so it has been quite difficult to make predictions based on historical data," Juppo summarizes.
Based on last season, for example, Tappara and Kärpät were high in all predictions, and their decline has surprised both the AI and other predictors.
"Understanding the strengths of AI is key to its effective use"
The AI model looks back a year, and each game this season completes the model. Now, the prediction is mainly based on this season's games, which is reflected in the stabilization of predictions.
The starting points for the playoffs are, therefore, exciting. According to Juppo, it is reasonable to believe that from now on, the curves will not fluctuate much – unless, of course, something unexpected happens in the games. In sports, anything is possible.
"AI is a daily tool like other technologies. It is essential to understand where and how it is most useful and how the data on which the modeling is based affects the results. Understanding the strengths and limitations of AI is key to its effective use," says Juhana Juppo.
How do the playoffs progress to Lukko's victory? Check out the playoff bracket and Juhana Juppo's video analysis at Digia.com (in Finnish) >>
More information:
Juhana Juppo
Chief Technology Officer, Digia Plc
tel. +358 40 172 2859
juhana.juppo(a)digia.com
Digia is a software and service company that combines technological possibilities and human capabilities to build intelligent business, society and a sustainable future. Our mission is to ensure that our customers are at the forefront of digital evolution. There are more than 1,500 of us working at Digia and we operate globally with our international customers. Digia’s turnover in 2023 was EUR 192,1 million. The company is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (DIGIA).