Comment by ifwinterco

From what I've heard from gambling addicts (thankfully this is not something I'm prone to), there is something about the actual process of gambling that makes it addictive beyond the loss/reward system.

People who are really into roulette get a buzz off seeing the wheel spin, hearing the ball bouncing etc.

Probably that comes after the initial addiction to the reward function but it then strongly reinforces it.

I don't think there's an equivalent for paying to watch a movie because the time to payoff (or not) is too long and the sensory experience is too inconsistent to elicit a conditioned place preference.

LLMs on the other hand... the time to payoff is shorter and the experience is consistent every time. It's just lacking the tactile/sensory elements