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As AI develops, Las Vegas and its workers brace for change Workers in Las Vegas
have been watching automation and technology inch into their workplace. Now with
AI, the city is preparing to adapt its service-heavy tourism economy.


ECONOMY


ROBOTS ARE POURING DRINKS IN VEGAS. AS AI GROWS, THE CITY'S WORKERS BRACE FOR
CHANGE

September 4, 20235:00 AM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

Deepa Shivaram

ROBOTS ARE POURING DRINKS IN VEGAS. AS AI GROWS, THE CITY'S WORKERS BRACE FOR
CHANGE

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Enlarge this image

This bar inside Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas strip has two robots that
serve customers drinks. The Tipsy Robot opened a second location on the strip
this year. Deepa Shivaram/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Deepa Shivaram/NPR


This bar inside Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas strip has two robots that
serve customers drinks. The Tipsy Robot opened a second location on the strip
this year.

Deepa Shivaram/NPR

Walk any direction in Las Vegas and it's easy to find machines doing human work.

Check-in kiosks have replaced people at the front desk of hotels. Text-bots now
make restaurant recommendations instead of a concierge. Robots can serve food,
and behind the bar, machines are pouring out drinks.

Automation and technology replacing jobs has long been a conversation in
Nevada's most populated city. Studies show that between 38% to 65% of jobs there
could be automated by 2035.

With the use of artificial intelligence on the rise, the economy of this city
--which relies on tourism and hospitality — is at an inflection point, as
companies look to technology to reduce labor costs.

Sponsor Message




TECHNOLOGY


AI IS BIASED. THE WHITE HOUSE IS WORKING WITH HACKERS TO TRY TO FIX THAT

"Wherever the resort industry can replace their workers and not affect
productivity, profits or the customer experience — wherever they can do that
with artificial intelligence... they will," said John Restrepo, principal at RCG
Economics in Las Vegas.

"The question is, how do you factor in and how do you adapt your economic
development strategy, your community strategy, your resiliency strategy to
accommodate a world where certain jobs no longer exist?" he said.

Restrepo said he believes the city has to diversify its economy to be less
reliant on tourism and hospitality.

"We need to move ... to those occupations that are more highly skilled, that are
not easily replaced by AI and that provide a greater level of balance and
resilience so we're not so hard-hit," Restrepo said.

Enlarge this image

Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge speaks during a rally along
the Las Vegas Strip in August. Pappageorge said the union is ready to strike
over AI if necessary. John Locher/AP hide caption

toggle caption
John Locher/AP


Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge speaks during a rally along
the Las Vegas Strip in August. Pappageorge said the union is ready to strike
over AI if necessary.

John Locher/AP


THE CULINARY UNION IS PREPARED TO STRIKE OVER AI

Unions in Las Vegas are closely watching the changes. The largest union in
Nevada, the Culinary Union, represents 60,000 service and hospitality workers in
Las Vegas and Reno. Later this year, it hopes to have a new negotiated contract
that includes protections against AI replacing jobs.

"We had a huge fight about tech in our previous contract. We're going to have
the same fight this time around," Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of
the union, told NPR.



In its last contract in 2018, the union pushed for companies to agree to a
six-month warning for workers for new technology introduced in the workplace, as
well as free training on how to use the new technology.


TECHNOLOGY


WHAT IS AI AND HOW WILL IT CHANGE OUR LIVES? NPR EXPLAINS.

"How do our folks make sure that the jobs that remain, that we can work them?
And that we're not thrown out like an old shoe? We're not going to stand for
that," Pappageorge said.

While the precise impact of AI on service work is not yet clear, the union is
prepared to make AI an issue to strike over when it negotiates its new contract,
Pappageorge said.

"We'd like to say we're going to be able to get an agreement. But if we have to,
we're going to have a big fight and do whatever it takes, including a strike on
technology," he said.


AI AND MACHINES CAN'T REPLACE THE HUMAN TOUCH, SOME WORKERS SAY

Sabrina Bergman works at the Tipsy Robot, a bar inside Planet Hollywood on the
Las Vegas strip. Her job is to help the robot do its job, tending bar. When the
robot accidentally tips over a cup, she resets it. If the robot doesn't pour a
full drink, she tops it off.

Bergman said she's not worried about the machine replacing her entirely — even
though the bar just opened a second location earlier this year.


POLITICS


THE WHITE HOUSE AND BIG TECH COMPANIES RELEASE COMMITMENTS ON MANAGING AI

Bergman and other service workers told NPR there are some human jobs that
technology can't eliminate. Machines don't have the same human touch and cannot
provide the same experience, they said — and often times, the machines add more
work.

"We have a lot of guests that are regular guests, and they come for the personal
interaction. They don't come for the technology," said Holly Lang, a cocktail
waitress at the MGM Grand. "There's some things you can't replace."

Lang said she's confident the Culinary Union will establish good protections. "A
lot of people are concerned that it'll take our jobs but we have more comfort in
the fact that we have contracts to protect us ... we've fought hard to keep our
jobs for a long time," Lang said.




IT'S NOT JUST SERVICE WORKERS WHO WILL BE AFFECTED

Artificial intelligence won't just impact lower-wage jobs. Technology like
ChatGPT, which is a form of generative AI, will impact white collar jobs, too,
in fields like accounting and data entry.

In some cases, AI will help make workers more productive, while other roles
might be eliminated entirely. AI is also likely to create brand new jobs that
don't even exist yet.


POLITICS


CONGRESS WANTS TO REGULATE AI, BUT IT HAS A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO

Las Vegas city officials are starting to brace workers for that shift now. In
August, the local Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel on using AI. A few dozen
people attended, including Tony Yee, who owns a small moving company in the
city.

He said he wants to learn how to use AI to build his company, and use the
technology to help him with tasks like dealing with customer evaluations.

"I am really intrigued with AI and I know it's the next frontier. It's just like
how people didn't believe in the internet in the '90s," Yee said.

"This is the next revolution, and if you're not on board, you're going to be
left behind. And I don't want to be left behind."

Audio story produced by Lexie Schapitl

 * tourism industry
 * robotics
 * hospitality
 * artificial intelligence
 * Las Vegas

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