UNLV bets on AI research hub for gambling industry transformation

UNLV has launched the AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) through its International Gaming Institute to study artificial intelligence’s impact on the gaming industry. The initiative addresses critical gaps in understanding how AI transforms gaming operations, governance frameworks, and responsible implementation in this heavily regulated sector.

What you should know: The AiR Hub represents the first centralized research facility dedicated to AI’s intersection with gambling and gaming.

• Co-founders Kasra Ghaharian, the International Gaming Institute’s director of research, and Simo Dragicevic, an IGI adjunct fellow, identified the need for consolidated research after observing scattered studies across the industry.
• The hub has secured financial support from various industry stakeholders, with founding members serving on an industry advisory panel to ensure practical relevance.
• Research focuses on four key areas: operational efficiencies, customer relationship management, player experience and engagement, and risk management for responsible gambling.

Why this matters: The gaming industry’s intersection with AI presents unique challenges due to both sectors’ controversial nature and regulatory complexity.

• “Given the arguably controversial nature of the gambling industry and the gambling product, when it intersects with this technology — which, in and of itself, is controversial — I think that highlights the need for scrutiny; for some research to help guide the ship,” Ghaharian said.
• The hub aims to raise AI literacy across the industry while ensuring safety aspects receive proper attention alongside innovation and growth.

How it works: The AiR Hub emphasizes collaboration over isolation, building frameworks and tools for multiple stakeholders.

• Regulators will receive guidance on asking the right questions before adapting regulations to technological changes.
• The hub invites regulators to work directly with academics and partner universities in early project stages.
• A flagship “State of AI in Gaming” report will address different facets of AI and gaming for various industry stakeholders.

Key applications identified: Recent research for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission revealed AI’s current and potential uses across gaming operations.

• Operational efficiencies include using generative AI for back-office tasks and generating game assets for slot machines.
• Risk management encompasses anti-money laundering, fraud detection, and sophisticated algorithms that identify problematic gambling behavior based on player data.
• Sports betting enhancements focus on facilitating user experience and making betting more intuitive.
• Slot development leverages AI for creating visual images, video, and sound assets.

What they’re saying: Industry veterans emphasize the collaborative approach and future-focused perspective.

• “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 AiR Hub playing a key role in facilitating this,” Dragicevic wrote.
• “We are always … anticipating what AI will mean for the industry in the future, and it’s hard for industry and regulators to prioritize the future when the present is so competitive and complex,” he added. “It’s our job to make this easier for them.”

Looking ahead: The hub faces the challenge of staying current with rapidly evolving AI developments while establishing itself as the industry’s go-to resource.

• Researchers must track hundreds of papers published weekly and constant releases of new AI models with emerging capabilities.
• “Ultimately, we want to see AiR Hub as the ‘home’ for practical research into AI and the gambling industry,” Dragicevic said.