10/03/2026
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10/03/2026
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LAS VEGAS, March 10, (AP): Nevada’s employment agency is rolling out a Google-run artificial intelligence tool to process appeals on unemployment benefit decisions, a development the agency said would rapidly speed up the process, but one that has some state lawmakers skeptical because of potential transparency and consent issues.
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) has eyed using the tool since summer 2024. But less-than-desired accuracy rates prolonged the rollout, which has a total price tag of $2.6 million. About $1.1 million has been spent so far.
Other state agencies are already using AI, including the Nevada DMV’s AI-powered chatbot, but DETR’s planned use of this product in the coming weeks marks a dramatic expansion on the state government’s AI use. The agency had also planned to use AI for invoicing, but that project is not moving forward after determining it was not meeting the “promised benefits and expectation,” a spokesperson said.
State officials have touted AI as a way to simplify and accelerate existing processes, but they have also cautioned that it must not replace human oversight. Two state workers will be involved in the process, and officials have emphasized the AI tool is not making the final decisions because it requires human verification.
“AI is a great tool — but that’s what it is. It’s a tool,” DETR Director Christopher Sewell said in an interview with The Nevada Independent. “We have to have human review with everything that we do.”
Still, there are skeptics in the Legislature about the project’s security and transparency, such as the fact that people are not required to give their consent for their appeal to go through the AI-driven process.
“When you start to contract with an AI company, where does the Nevada citizen fit inside of that relationship?” said state Sen. Dina Neal (D-North Las Vegas), who sponsored a failed bill last year to dramatically increase state oversight of AI. “Because you’re contracting a Nevada citizen’s rights without their consent, without their knowledge. And that is backwards.”
The release of the AI tool comes after the agency suffered a massive pandemic-induced backlog of unemployment appeals, which has since subsided. Officials said the tool could issue a ruling in five minutes, whereas the process without AI can take anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours depending on the complexity of the case.
