{"id":471197,"date":"2026-02-10T19:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/471197\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:12:09","slug":"concerns-ai-slop-used-by-sydney-university-based-institute-to-lobby-for-20m-gambling-education-funding-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/471197\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns \u2018AI slop\u2019 used by Sydney University-based institute to lobby for $20m gambling education funding | Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Independent senator David Pocock<\/a> says he is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d a report sent to politicians by a University of Sydney-based institute to support a $20m funding request for gambling education \u201cappears to just be slop written by AI\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pocock was among at least 10 politicians and officials sent a \u201cYouth Gambling in Australia Evidence Review,\u201d by the OurFutures Institute. The report was used as background to the institute\u2019s budget submission<\/a> for funding to deliver a gambling prevention education program aimed at 15- to 20-year-olds.<\/p>\n

The director of the OurFutures Institute put the errors down to the use of a reference \u201cediting tool\u201d, and said the claims in the paper were evidence-based and sound.<\/p>\n

The review, analysed by Guardian Australia, contained at least 21 references where the reference link was broken; where the paper referenced did not appear to exist at all; or where the paper cited appears to be different to the one hyperlinked.<\/p>\n

There were also multiple instances where a statement was not supported by the paper referenced.<\/p>\n

For example, the review states that a Productivity Commission inquiry into gambling found: \u201cEvery $1 invested in school-based prevention returns $8\u201310 through avoided costs in healthcare, welfare, and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, this assertion is nowhere to be found in the Productivity Commission\u2019s report<\/a>, which states: \u201cThe Commission has reservations about the benefits of school-based gambling education, which has been strongly advocated by the gambling industry and has been finding a place in state and territory curriculums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

Pocock confirmed he had received the review and that his office had written to the OurFutures Institute with concerns, asking for an explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply concerned about this $20m request for public funding and the evidence review it is based on, which appears to just be slop written by AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my preliminary assessment, the review is full of AI hallucinations, including references to studies that don\u2019t exist and statements presented as fact that are completely false or grossly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he was particularly concerned by the claim that school-based gambling harm prevention programs have a return on investment \u201cwhen in reality the commission found that these programs are typically pushed by the gambling industry and can make things worse\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pocock said the government instead should ban gambling ads that impact and influence children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been three years since the late Peta Murphy MP handed her multipartisan-backed report<\/a> to the government on gambling reform, and the government still has not even responded to it, yet alone acted to ban gambling advertising,\u201d Pocock said.<\/p>\n

Institute claims \u2018genuine error\u2019<\/p>\n

According to the OurFutures evidence review, \u201cevidence from multiple domains including alcohol, tobacco, and vaping, shows that school-based prevention programs are among the most effective tools for reducing risky behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the reference provided for that statement directs to a broken link.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia found the paper that OurFutures appears to be referring to<\/a>, but it makes no such finding about school-based programs. Instead, the paper found studies in support of school-based gambling education programs often contained \u201cmethodological inadequacies\u201d.<\/p>\n

The OurFutures budget submission states that any gambling education program it develops will \u201cwill be led by leaders in their respective fields with vast experience in implementing education programs\u201d including Prof Sally Gainsbury, a director with the University of Sydney\u2019s Brain and Mind Institute.<\/p>\n

The submission does not disclose that Gainsbury receives direct and indirect funding<\/a> from the gambling industry<\/a> including Entain Australia, Sportsbet, Star Entertainment and the European Lotteries Association.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia contacted one of the researchers referenced in the evidence review, Samantha Thomas, a professor of public health at Deakin University known for her work on gambling advertising and children.<\/p>\n

Two papers referenced alongside her name in the review were ones Thomas said she \u201chad not written and [which] do not seem to exist\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe owe it to the children of Australia to ensure that we are basing gambling policy decisions on the best available independent evidence,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThat evidence shows we need a complete ban on gambling ads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken Wallace, the chief executive of the OurFutures Institute, said the claims and policy rationale behind the budget submission \u201cremain evidenced and sound\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked a series of questions about the issues with the paper, Wallace said: \u201cAn editing tool was only used to reorder references found by our research team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, we were informed this resulted in some mismatched, merged or incorrectly formatted citations. As a team that strongly upholds evidence-based approaches, we deeply apologise for this genuine error.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the institute would share corrected versions with those who originally received the background material, with a \u201cfull, line-by-line verification of all remaining references for peace of mind, as soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also updating the budget submission to correct the reference section.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace did not explain how it is that direct quotes cited do not seem to exist, or how seemingly nonexistent papers appeared alongside the names of known researchers. He did not explain how the review contained information with references to literature that made opposing findings.<\/p>\n

Asked about Gainsbury\u2019s industry funding and whether this should have been disclosed, Wallace said: \u201cNeither the design nor the delivery of the proposed program involves gambling-industry funding, influence, or partnership, and safeguarding independence is a core principle of the initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Hannah Pitt, a public health researcher who alongside Thomas has spoken with thousands of young Australians and their parents about gambling, said what children and teenagers want is \u201cto see gambling ads banned or highly restricted\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence is clear that young people want greater regulations on this issue, and they have called for government action to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Australia, Gambling Help Online<\/a> is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline<\/a> is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic<\/a> on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare<\/a> on 0808 8020 133. In the US, call the National Council on Problem Gambling<\/a> at 800-GAMBLER or text 800GAM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Independent senator David Pocock says he is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d a report sent to politicians by a University of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-471197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}