Game Innovation Lab Presents: Artificial Intelligence and Game Aesthetics

Can artificial intelligence research tell us anything about the aesthetics of games? Can we encode notions of game aesthetics in computer programs that design games? What are the aesthetics of games designed by an artificial intelligence? Is a content generator a formal theory of design? Such questions will be discussed at the first event of the new Games Research Talks series. At this event, Gillian Smith (Northeastern University, Boston) and Michael Cook (Goldsmiths, London) will give short talks about artificial intelligence and game aesthetics, followed by a panel moderated by NYU's Julian Togelius.

The presenters are both well-known for their work on the intersection of artificial intelligence and design. Gillian Smith has created a series of tools for AI-assisted design, such as the Tanagra, the only level generator with a sense of rhythm, and defined metrics for evaluation of procedural content generators. Michael Cook has created ANGELINA, an automatic game design system which reads The Guardian and submits games to game jams.