Using AI to predict Lotto numbers
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23 Jun 2025 •
Reading time: 4 minutes Is it really possible to beat the lottery thanks to AI? Between fantasy and statistical reality, we explore for you the limits and rare one-off successes of artificial intelligence algorithms associated with the lottery.
Winning the lottery thanks to artificial intelligence sounds like a dream. But is it really possible? In short, no. If AI could predict the winning Lotto numbers, we’d all be millionaires by now and the lottery would no longer have any reason to exist. But even if AI can’t predict the winning numbers, it can still help compile statistics on the various draws and perhaps help you a little.
To fully understand why the promise of ‘winning the lottery thanks to AI’ is impossible, we first need to remember an essential mathematical truth: the lottery is designed to be random. Totally random. Each draw is independent of the previous one, with no memory and no underlying logic.
When you play the lotto in Belgium, the probability of finding the 6 correct numbers and the lucky number is around 1 in 8,145,060. To put it plainly, your chances of one day hitting the jackpot are slim.
As we can see, any attempt at prediction, including by artificial intelligence, comes up against an almost insurmountable mathematical barrier: that of pure chance. Unlike games such as poker or sports betting, where strategic and behavioural variables come into play, the lottery is based exclusively on the drawing of random numbers from a finite set.
Popular AI methods applied to the lottery
That hasn’t stopped researchers, enthusiasts and developers from trying their luck with artificial intelligence models. By working on the statistics of previous draws, they have tried to discover hidden patterns, invisible to the naked eye, and generate optimal combinations based on these hypotheses.
The most commonly used method is Neural Networks (RNN, LSTM, CNN). Neural networks specialise in analysing time series. By giving the AI access to a database containing thousands of past draws, we try to find out which numbers come up most often, or which have not come up for a long time. But even with thousands of draws, the models struggle to identify any exploitable regularities.
The illusion of recurring patterns often stems from a cognitive bias: the belief that certain numbers ‘come up more often’ or that others ‘haven’t come up for a long time’. This bias, known as the Monte Carlo fallacy or gambler’s fallacy, is well known to psychologists and has no statistical basis. It does not become more reliable when algorithms are applied to it.
However, a number of commercial applications claim to offer miracle solutions. Names like LottoChamp, Smart Luck or AI Lotto Predictor abound online, promising ‘AI-boosted predictions’ or ‘high-probability combinations’. However, most of them are based more on marketing than real algorithmic innovation, and never publish verifiable results or independent studies.
No model, even one based on AI, significantly changes your chances of winning.
Success stories: reality or luck?
There are some stories that make you dream. Recently, a group of mathematics students from the University of Lecce in Italy won €43,000 after developing an algorithm based on two years of analysing draws. According to the students, their AI identified micro-biases in mechanical draws, caused by defects in the mixing of the balls or irregularities in the material used.
Although this story made the rounds of the local media, it has never been reproduced in a controlled setting. Is this a genuine technical feat or simply a happy accident masquerading as a scientific success to attract attention? It’s hard to say. What is certain is that a one-off gain, however impressive, is not a reliable method.
Similar experiments have been carried out in research laboratories, notably around the SmileyNet project, an algorithm that would be capable of predicting random events. But here again, the methodology has been widely criticised, and no serious scientific article has validated these results.
Why can’t AI beat chance?
The main reason why AI cannot beat chance lies in the very nature of chance. A lotto draw does not depend on any past event. It follows no trend, no linear or cyclical logic. Each draw is totally independent of the previous one. Even a high-performance algorithm cannot predict what is, by definition, unpredictable.
Some AI advocates argue that a minimal improvement in probabilities would be enough to make the approach viable. But going from 1 chance in 8 million to 1 in 5 million remains derisory: it does not change the behaviour of the player or the mathematical expectation of the game. To put it plainly, AI may be able to eliminate highly improbable combinations, but it does not transform the lottery into a winning system.
Can artificial intelligence really win the lottery?
For the time being, the answer is no. While a few spectacular strokes of luck fuel the collective imagination, the mathematical reality is implacable: the lotto is a game of pure chance, and AI cannot predict the unpredictable.