Las Vegas, once solely known for casino floors that feature wall-to-wall table games and slot machines, has upped the ante by expanding into online platforms that can be accessed from anywhere via PCs, laptops, and mobile devices. For more than 30 years, UNLV’s International Gaming Institute (IGI) has been following these trends, analyzing gaming issues, and building a reputation for research that is acknowledged worldwide as being both trustworthy and academically rigorous.
AI is a topic that — although not new — has become a focal point as more companies adopt and integrate AI into their technology. Heated conversations around ChatGPT, especially in academia, have highlighted the public’s mixed reaction to AI and how it’s used. In a similar vein, the gaming industry’s adoption of AI has stirred conversations among stakeholders on how AI is used, should be used, and how it can be regulated to meet industry-standard ethical guidelines. To provide those answers, 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’ experience in business, technology, and research and development.
“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 started at IGI as a research assistant while earning his doctorate from the Harrah College of Hospitality.
The hub, drawing inspiration from the startup model, is still 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 instead of letting the chips fall where they may by waiting to get their feet wet, AiR Hub is already going all in — taking on the ambitious task of an industry-wide analysis of AI usage.
When completed next spring, the State of AI in Gaming report is set for a wide public release. That will include a presentation with global experts in gambling, policy, technology, and public health gathered at the 19th International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking. The event, hosted by IGI, takes place every three years and will be held May 26-28, 2026, at 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 commercial gambling and the national 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 lead research on how AI can be used in the gambling industry in a responsible and collaborative way. Part of IGI in the Stan Fulton Building on UNLV’s campus, the hub will focus on collecting data related to important business and social issues, aiming to encourage safe and responsible AI use by working with gaming businesses, researchers, regulators, and other support organizations around 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 around crypto and NFTs cooled, researchers at IGI always recognized and understood the long-term potential of artificial 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 just what AI is, but how we should use it — and use it for good."
IGI brings its international network and influence — spanning over 60 jurisdictions and having trained thousands of executives and regulators — to the table and ensures that when AI is adopted, it is also 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 played a large part in growing the institute's global reach. “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 other monumental advances in technology, whether AI is “good or bad” comes 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 challenge of creating industry guidelines through a years’ worth of research that will culminate in the State of AI in Gaming report.
Global Influence: The State of AI in Gaming Report
With the report’s release in spring 2026, IGI’s AiR Hub will be at the forefront of AI research in the gambling sector. The open-access report synthesizes data from diverse sources, including interviews with global stakeholders, surveys of industry and regulators, and a systematic collection of quantitative public data.The report will also dedicate a section to Responsible AI, covering the latest research and providing guidance 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 include Ghaharian and Dragicevic as well as UNLV graduate and undergraduate students in hospitality, education, and computer science programs, will provide data on:
- Current and emerging AI use cases in gambling, including personalized marketing, back-end automation, and AI-powered customer service
- Benchmarking AI adoption and maturity across the sector
- Responsible AI practices and consumer protections
- Innovative practices and how to share them across 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 research independence by adhering to the established policies of UNLV International Gaming Institute that enforce strict “firewalls” to keep funding sources from influencing research outcomes. The hub is funded through a combination of unrestricted donations, competitive grants, and contracted projects. Founding industry members serve on the Industry Advisory Panel. And, while members contribute valuable insights, they can’t interfere with the research process or publication decisions.
“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 providing an analysis of the breadth of AI use within the gaming industry, will cover areas of unethical usage or problematic outcomes such as AI-created cheating, data breaches, job loss, creative stagnation, and environmental impact. "One of the core principles of AiR Hub is to promote responsible innovation,” says Ghaharian.
Though the State of AI in Gaming report won’t “hit” until spring, the hub is poised to deal groundbreaking insights that will shape the future of AI in gaming for decades to come.
"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."
