Las Vegas is already seeing the impact of AI, including robot bartenders. George Rose/Getty Images
- As NPR reported Monday, AI is in the early stages of replacing some human labor in Las Vegas.
- Robots are already replacing some jobs, such as bartenders and security guards.
- The state’s largest union plans to fight back in collective bargaining.
Add bartenders and security guards in Las Vegas to the list of workers worried about AI replacing human jobs.
Restaurants, bars, casinos and other attractions in the city are using AI instead of humans for some tasks, NPR reported Monday. Between 38% and 65% of jobs in Southern Nevada, where Las Vegas is the largest city, could be automated by 2035, NPR reported, citing a 2019 Nevada Independent article.
According to NPR, the Culinary Union, which has about 60,000 members in Nevada’s service and hospitality industries, plans to negotiate protections to protect against AI job takeovers in a contract that the union hopes to finalize later this year. Union members are even considering the possibility of a strike to get those protections, Treasurer Ted Pappageorge told NPR.
“We want to say we can reach an agreement,” Pappageorge said. “But if we have to, we will put up a big fight and do whatever it takes, including a strike against the technology.”
As Insider previously reported, AI is on the verge of eliminating some jobs and transforming others.
Examples of automation replacing human labor are already easy to find in Las Vegas. On TikTok in April, user emgaudy3 posted a video showing a robotic arm mixing a pineapple-flavored cocktail. “A robot is about to make me a drink,” says the woman in the video.
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The arm holds a shaker and reaches towards the ceiling where various types of alcohol hang. After mixing some ingredients and adding some ice, the arm shakes the drink before pouring it into a cup.
Tipsy Robot, the name of the robot-operated bar featured in the TikTok video, already has two locations on the Las Vegas Strip, according to NPR. Sabrina Bergman, who works at one of the sites, told NPR that she still has to correct mistakes the robotic arms make, like tipping over a cup or underfilling a glass.
In another example, the M Resort south of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada, began deploying a security robot in its parking lot earlier this year. TikTok user lasvegaslina posted a video of the robot at work in June.
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“With 50 cameras and sensors, it moves around looking for possible problems,” local television station KVVU reported in February.
However, some workers say robots cannot completely replace their jobs in the hospitality industry.
Holly Lang, a cocktail waitress at the MGM Grand, told NPR she expects the Culinary Union will negotiate protections for jobs like hers in the next contract. But she also said robots can’t provide the same personal service that many workers in Las Vegas provide.
“We have a lot of guests who are regulars and they come for the personal interaction. They don’t come for the technology,” Lang told NPR. “Some things you can’t replace.”
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