Ziv Chen
Contributor
Published on: 10.08.2026
Researcher from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Discusses the State of AI in Gaming at America’s Largest AI Conference
Dr. Kasra Ghaharian from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), spoke this week at the Ai4 Conference, held in the Venetian Conference and Expo Center in Las Vegas.
In a session named A New House Edge? The State of AI in Gaming 2026, Dr. Ghaharian presented his findings and discussed an extensive report, of which he was Principal Investigator and Editor-in-Chief, on the current integration and impact of artificial intelligence technology in the gaming industry. The report, titled The State of AI in Gaming 2026, was produced by UNLV’s International Gaming Institute (IGI) in collaboration with KPMG.
“The gambling and gaming industry is at an inflection point. In just a few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has shifted from an emerging novelty to an operational necessity – powering everything from personalization and game development to compliance and surveillance,” wrote Dr. Ghaharian, who serves as Director of Research at IGI.
“But as adoption accelerates, key questions arise: How are organizations deploying AI in practice? Where are the biggest challenges? How can we ensure responsible implementation? And what new AI advancements will drive future innovation? We created The State of AI in Gaming to address these questions,” he said, describing the report’s mission.
The report was presented at Ai4, one of the largest AI conferences in the country. Dr. Ghaharian presented alongside a distinguished list of speakers, including “the godfather of AI,” Nobel Prize Winner Geoffrey Hinton, Srini Venkatesan, the EVP and Chief Technology Officer at PayPal, Sachin Katti, Head of Compute at OpenAI, Reena Solomon, Head of AI Partnerships at Airbus, and other academic and industry leaders in the field of AI.
About the Conference
The Ai4 Conference took place from August 4 to August 6 at The Venetian in Las Vegas and was attended by more than 12,000 industry professionals from over 90 countries, with more than 400 organizations exhibiting. 2026 marks the eighth year of the event, which has become synonymous within the industry as one of the largest forums dedicated to exploring how AI can transform day-to-day services.
The conference brings together what it describes as “the brightest minds” in AI innovation and aims to help organizations adapt to and capitalize on AI as an essential tool for responsibly improving and transforming all areas of their operations.
AI Research at UNLV Through the Introduction of AiR Hub
Dr. Ghaharian is a co-founder of AiR Hub, a dedicated AI research hub within UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, launched in May 2025. UNLV describes it as “a significant step towards advancing research and understanding on the impacts, risks, and opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) within the gambling industry.”
One of AiR Hub’s key initiatives was to create the State of AI Gaming report, while the organization also aimed to provide tools and data for operators and regulators looking to promote responsible AI and develop what it describes as “benchmark solutions” for AI systems already operating in the sector.
About the Report
The State of AI Gaming report is a 113-page document that goes into detail on the use of AI in the gaming industry, released in April of this year.
Dr. Ghaharian and other UNLV researchers analyzed the gambling industry by compiling data sets from publicly available sources. The report notes that 151 news articles were used to identify key trends within the industry, as well as to curate their own survey research and include targeted interviews with industry stakeholders and regulators.
Key Findings
UNLV researchers found that while the gaming industry has ambitions to use AI in its practices, research suggests it is at an early stage of maturity, with infrastructure and expertise not up to scratch.
The governance of AI was another key issue, with research pointing to a lack of AI governance roles within companies, with many organizations showing no evidence of having established such practices. UNLV researchers also found that gambling regulators and operators were not on the same page regarding the use of AI, with regulators admitting that they lack the ability to properly govern the tool.
With that being said, there is hope for the future of AI in the gaming industry. The report suggests increased momentum around research and adoption of AI within the industry. The likes of fireside chats with industry professionals will only exacerbate that continued drive.
