The Fox 5 News segment, hosted by Jennifer Williams, explores a recent trend where lottery winners attribute part of their success to using AI tools like ChatGPT to select numbers. Two Powerball winners from September each won over $100,000, though neither hit the jackpot, and credit AI for their picks. The piece intersperses street interviews with New Yorkers, revealing a split opinion: some are eager to try AI for lottery numbers, others remain skeptical or prefer quick picks. Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano cautions that AI use creates an illusion of control, may lead to shared winnings if many adopt the same strategy, and raises privacy concerns about data trails left when feeding personal information into AI models. The segment concludes that while AI can provide statistical insights, its role in lottery play is largely recreational, and broader reliance on AI for personal decisions is still debated.
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Several recent lottery winners are crediting AI with their big wins. Two Powerball winners from September say they used ChatGPT to pick their numbers. Neither hit the jackpot, but both took home more than $100,000.
Good enough for me. It begs the question, can AI help your odds of winning a prize? Fox 6's Jennifer Williams breaks down the chances.
Many trying their luck with the lottery are turning to AI to help them pick those lucky numbers in hopes of striking it rich. Would you use AI to help you pick lottery numbers?
I think I would, yeah. Absolutely. Never thought about it, but yeah.
No, I would.
Yes, 100%.
I tried it once, but it was not a success.
Depending on where and when, absolutely. Yeah, you'd have to. I mean, it's telling you so much information, you're going to want to get the important information out of that AI for sure.
Cybersecurity experts caution using AI in this way is really more for fun than anything else.
This gives the user the illusion of control. People often feel that they have a better chance with a system than a quick pick or emotional numbers tied with birthdays and such. And so if they have that system, it feeds into the desire for more control, for a statistically informed chance.
Robert Siciliano, the CEO of ProtectNowLLC.com, admitted he even asked ChatGPT about this trend.
There are many people that have been successful using AI to help pick their numbers because it does provide a level of statistical probabilities that may enhance your chances. However, if you've got a million people doing the exact same thing, you're going to have to split those winnings. As for any potential security concerns, pretty much everything that you pump into ChatGPT or Gemini, that in some way it's being regurgitated. So know that there's some type of a trail regarding information that you provide tied to AI. And at some point that may pop up in ways in which we don't quite know yet.
As for the New Yorkers we spoke to, as you heard earlier, they were pretty split and seemed to rely on AI for bigger decisions.
We don't play the lottery. I wouldn't do it at all. Maybe stocks though.
The other day I used AI to tell me if I should take a job or not. AI is just— yeah, it's just the future.
I've never tried it, but I might consider trying it.
I don't trust AI like that much right now, so I mean, it's system generated, so if anything, I'll just— I'll still trust my instinct and choose my own numbers.
Just get lucky. Just be lucky. If it's your—
it's your time, it's your time.
In Herald Square, Jennifer Williams, Fox 5 News.
Hmm, I'd try it out.
Why not?
It seems like a silly extra step. I just always get the Quick Picks.
Yeah, well, have you won?
Oh my God, that's a great point. You know what, I've been doing it all wrong.
I'm doing it all wrong.
I think I should update— I should update my methods. Fair enough.
