UNLV’s AiR Hub Weighs Risks and Rewards of AI in Gaming

Las Vegas, as soon as solely recognized for on line casino flooring that function wall-to-wall desk video games and slot machines, has upped the ante by increasing into on-line platforms that may be accessed from anyplace by way of PCs, laptops, and cellular units. For greater than 30 years, UNLV’s International Gaming Institute (IGI) has been following these tendencies, analyzing gaming points, and constructing a status for analysis that’s acknowledged worldwide as being each reliable and academically rigorous.

AI is a subject that — though not new — has turn out to be a focus as extra firms undertake and combine AI into their expertise. Heated conversations round ChatGPT, particularly in academia, have highlighted the general public’s combined response to AI and the way it’s used. In an identical vein, the gaming {industry}’s adoption of AI has stirred conversations amongst stakeholders on how AI is used, must be used, and the way it may be regulated to satisfy industry-standard moral tips. To present these solutions, IGI launched AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) in May 2025. 

AiR Hub was co-founded by IGI’s Director of Research Kasra Ghaharian and adjunct fellow Simo Dragicevic, an {industry} veteran with over 25 years’ expertise in enterprise, expertise, and analysis and improvement. 

“AI is giving the gaming industry a chance to rethink everything — from innovation and customer experience to responsible play,” says Ghaharian, a triple alumnus (’07 BS, ’10 MS, and ’22 Ph.D. Hotel Administration) who began at IGI as a analysis assistant whereas incomes his doctorate from the Harrah College of Hospitality.

The hub, drawing inspiration from the startup mannequin, continues to be accepting founding members — representatives from Action Gaming, Axes.ai, Evoke Plc, Gaming Analytics, Kindbridge Behavioral Health, Playtech Plc, Responsible Online Gaming Association, Walker Digital Table Systems, and Aristocrat have already signed on. But as a substitute of letting the chips fall the place they could by ready to get their ft moist, AiR Hub is already going all in — taking up the formidable process of an industry-wide evaluation of AI utilization.

When accomplished subsequent spring, the State of AI in Gaming report is about for a large public launch. That will embody a presentation with world specialists in playing, coverage, expertise, and public well being gathered on the nineteenth International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking. The occasion, hosted by IGI, takes place each three years and shall be held May 26-28, 2026, on the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

“The report will be a first of its kind and has the potential to become the industry de-facto report on how AI is impacting the gaming industry,” says Dragicevic. 

Dragicevic has sat on the boards of Canada’s Responsible Gambling Council and the Gambling Commission, which regulates business playing and the nationwide lottery in Great Britain.

“As countries and corporations invest hundreds of billions of dollars into AI in a bid to become first to develop AGI [artificial general intelligence] in the next five years,” says Dragicevic, “it’s critical to ensure all aspects of the technology are researched and its impact understood, both from a product and commercial perspective, as well as a policy and safety perspective.”

Betting on the Long-Term Impact of AI in Gaming

AiR Hub’s mission is to steer analysis on how AI can be utilized within the playing {industry} in a accountable and collaborative means. Part of IGI within the Stan Fulton Building on UNLV’s campus, the hub will give attention to amassing information associated to vital enterprise and social points, aiming to encourage protected and accountable AI use by working with gaming companies, researchers, regulators, and different help organizations all over the world.

“At its core, AI needs data. That whole interest in data-informed decision making is really what drives this,” says Ghaharian. “The insights we uncover now will shape the future for years to come.”

While the hype round crypto and NFTs cooled, researchers at IGI at all times acknowledged and understood the long-term potential of synthetic intelligence.

“AI isn’t just another buzzword — this one has sticking power,” says Brett Abarbanel, IGI’s executive director and an associate professor in the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. “The AiR Hub exists to ask not simply what AI is, however how we should always use it — and use it for good.”

IGI brings its worldwide community and affect — spanning over 60 jurisdictions and having skilled 1000’s of executives and regulators — to the desk and ensures that when AI is adopted, additionally it is understood, monitored, and developed responsibly, says Abarbanel.

“IGI doesn’t just study gaming. We study gaming’s impact — from pop culture to problem gambling,” says Abarbanel, who’s performed a big half in rising the institute’s world attain. “There’s only one continent we haven’t done work on — Antarctica is next!”

A researcher who majored in statistics, Abarbanel acknowledges that, as with different monumental advances in expertise, whether or not AI is “good or bad” comes all the way down to how humanity chooses to wield it. “A common analogy is that a knife can slice cheese or stab someone in the heart. AI is the same — it’s all about how we use the tool.”

Which is why AiR Hub has taken up the problem of making {industry} tips via a years’ value of analysis that can culminate within the State of AI in Gaming report.

Global Influence: The State of AI in Gaming Report

With the report’s launch in spring 2026, IGI’s AiR Hub shall be on the forefront of AI analysis within the playing sector. The open-access report synthesizes information from numerous sources, together with interviews with world stakeholders, surveys of {industry} and regulators, and a scientific assortment of quantitative public information.The report will even dedicate a bit to Responsible AI, protecting the newest analysis and offering steerage for {industry} stakeholders.

“AI can be powerful for growth — but it must be adopted responsibly. That’s why we’re building tools that help operators do it right,” says Ghaharian. 

AiR Hub researchers, which embody Ghaharian and Dragicevic in addition to UNLV graduate and undergraduate college students in hospitality, schooling, and laptop science packages, will present information on:

• Current and rising AI use instances in playing, together with customized advertising, back-end automation, and AI-powered customer support
• Benchmarking AI adoption and maturity throughout the sector
• Responsible AI practices and shopper protections
• Innovative practices and methods to share them throughout the {industry}

“The gaming industry has the potential to leverage AI to create exciting and new entertainment experiences, but to ensure it fully capitalizes, we need to raise the AI literacy of the industry, and we see the State of AI in Gaming report playing a key role in facilitating this,” says Dragicevic.

The Gold Standard in Research

AiR Hub maintains its analysis independence by adhering to the established insurance policies of UNLV International Gaming Institute that implement strict “firewalls” to maintain funding sources from influencing analysis outcomes. The hub is funded via a mix of unrestricted donations, aggressive grants, and contracted tasks. Founding {industry} members serve on the Industry Advisory Panel. And, whereas members contribute precious insights, they will’t intervene with the analysis course of or publication choices.

“Ultimately, we want to see AiR Hub as the home for practical research into AI and the gambling industry,” says Dragicevic. “I believe this ethos is embedded in IGI and UNLV’s approach. Underpinned with UNLV’s very strict research ethics and governance framework.”

The report, by offering an evaluation of the breadth of AI use inside the gaming {industry}, will cowl areas of unethical utilization or problematic outcomes corresponding to AI-created dishonest, information breaches, job loss, artistic stagnation, and environmental impression. “One of the core rules of AiR Hub is to advertise accountable innovation,” says Ghaharian. 

Though the State of AI in Gaming report received’t “hit” till spring, the hub is poised to deal groundbreaking insights that can form the way forward for AI in gaming for many years to return.

“Competitive advantage and innovation are going to be major differentiators for companies,” says Ghaharian. “How they leverage AI to create great experiences for customers — whether online or land-based — will define the next era of the industry.”