UNLV Finds AI Oversight and Management Gap in Gaming
Posted on: April 12, 2026, 05:09h.
Last updated on: April 13, 2026, 09:15h.
- A new UNLV report found that few companies have a plan for managing AI
- While 80% of firms use generative AI, most lack dedicated teams for oversight and control
- Regulators expressed low confidence and limited visibility into how licensees currently deploy AI technologies
A new report from the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) says that while most gaming companies are using artificial intelligence (AI) in some form, very few have a plan for how to manage it, leaving a large gap between adoption and control of this new technology.
The inaugural State of AI in Gaming — which the UNLV International Gaming Institute’s (IGI) AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) intends to publish annually in partnership with financial consulting firm KPMG — surveyed 83 gambling companies and 113 regulators around the world to understand how AI is being used and supervised.
The authors looked at four areas: how mature companies are in their AI use, how regulations are developing, how much innovation is happening, and whether companies are using AI responsibly.
“Society is at an inflection point with AI, and until now there has been no rigorous, independent baseline for understanding where the gambling industry stands,” Kasra Ghaharian, IGI’s director of research and editor-in-chief of the report, said in a statement.
The State of AI in Gaming report aims to fill that gap, functioning as an essential resource for operators, regulators, researchers, and every stakeholder navigating the adoption, return on investment, and responsible integration of AI within the gambling industry.
Weak AI Governance
One of the report’s clearest findings is that AI governance — the rules and processes a company uses to manage AI — is the weakest area, scoring the lowest of all categories on the report’s maturity index: 30 out of 100 points.
Governance plans explain who can use AI tools, how data should be handled, how to check for errors or bias, and what to do when something goes wrong. The report says most companies do not have this rulebook in place. In fact, only about one in five companies even has a person or team in charge of AI oversight.
The study also found that while more than 80% of companies are already using generative AI for tasks like writing, analyzing data, or creating content, far fewer are using more advanced “agentic” AI systems that can make decisions or take actions on their own.
Researchers say that slower adoption makes sense because gambling is a highly regulated industry where mistakes can affect customers and compliance.
Another major finding is a disconnect between regulators and operators. Regulators say they do not always know how companies are using AI, and many do not feel confident overseeing it. Both sides agree that responsible AI practices are still underdeveloped.
“The regulator-industry disconnect we uncovered is one of the most consequential findings in this report,” Simo Dragicevic, executive editor and AiR Hub co-founder noted.
“Regulators believe they lack the capacity to properly oversee how AI is being used by licensees, and the data confirms they often have an incomplete picture. Meanwhile, Responsible AI practices across the industry are nascent at best.”
“As AI becomes more deeply embedded in operations, this oversight gap will only become more urgent to address,” Dragicevic concluded.
UNLV plans to spotlight the report at IGI’s 19th International Gambling and Risk‑Taking Conference on May 27, an event the institute hosts every three years at the Bellagio.
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