Artificial Game

The development of computational intelligence has been closely related to the principles of games from the very beginning. Alan Turing (1950) was among the first to wonder whether machines could master imitation rather than whether they were able to think, and his followers and other scientists developed these ideas further, by creating computer games such as tic-tac-toe, nim, checkers, and chess. Today, artificial intelligence is the driving force behind many questions concerning some of the most diverse aspects of human life, from its role in production, education, medicine, art, ethics, law, communications, transportation, finance, all the way to its role in the development of video games.

This situation has inspired countless new conferences and led to a renewed interest in the social sciences and humanities, which were invited to reflect on the fundamental issues of the acceleration of technological development. In our case, this situation has caused a double reflection and inspired questions about what artificial intelligence as a technology brings to video games (and vice versa), but also what video games themselves represent as artifacts that are simultaneously programmed technological creations and nevertheless more complex than the sum of their parts.

Until the latest breakthrough in the study of artificial intelligence, its use in video games was primarily limited to NPC interactions with the player. It has now become clear that, at a time when many companies have already developed generative programs that automate tasks in the domain of game art, animation and narrative design, the emergence of artificial intelligence hints at drastic changes in production, ways of playing and changes in games themselves. Automation of creativity, a phrase that sounds like an oxymoron, has become a reality in many creative industries, especially with artificial intelligence capable of learning and being creative thanks to the availability of huge databases. This is especially true in the video game industry which has always used the latest technologies to create the best video games possible.

Artificial intelligence currently raises a number of questions: Will this technology encourage or stifle creativity? How will these changes affect personnel structures, or the wellbeing of employees? Will new professions appear, while others will disappear? To what extent will the new technology be available to smaller studios? What are the pitfalls of plagiarism and unethical approach to AI and game design? Will the likelihood of addictive behavior increase? Are we about to flood the market with games? What changes will occur with more complex communication with NPCs? Will changes in games stop at the aesthetic, or will new mechanics, rules and gameplay appear? How will AI affect the gaming experience and ways of playing?

In addition to all these issues, the emergence and accelerated development of artificial intelligence has a number of implications ranging across interpretation, consumption and production, closely related to the nature and medium of video games. In addition to being industrial products, video games provide their players with the opportunity to immerse themselves in synthetic worlds and feel present in them. Video games are simulations, artificial dynamic models that simulate spatial relationships, things, beings, events and activities at different levels of abstraction. They generate virtual reality which can be seen as a false image of reality (Baudrillard, 1996) or as an environment filled with the potential (Lévy, 1998) of establishing social connections, education, medical therapy, etc.

Because they are designed, artistically processed and programmed, composed of procedurally determined rules and algorithms, audiovisual and narrative elements that shape the gaming experience, video games can at once represent cultural artifacts which testify to the technological achievements and cultural assumptions of the time in which they were created, and ideological constructs, because they reflect beliefs and values ​​and thus influence the way of thinking and behavior through narratives, characters and mechanics; they can simultaneously be cultural heritage, and the media for preservation and digitization of cultural heritage; a means of entertainment, and a means that shapes our view of the world – at the same time a computer program, andspace for performing different identities, and a learning machine (Gee, 2005) with educational potential.

Until now, engineers, developers and other professionals in the gaming industry have mostly grappled with issues that are quite different from those preoccupying the academic community. Being the first to encounter artificial intelligence and its application in various industries, as a rule, these professionals have faced different challenges than academics, who primarily observe and analyze such phenomena. Hence, one of the tasks of the SVI conference is to connect these two worlds – to theorize developer practices, while also making academic theories more practical.

The current position of artificial intelligence in the public sphere has made it an obvious inflection point, and the phenomenon of the artificial was chosen as the optimal starting point. In the same sense in which a video game is constructed at the level of (cultural) code, art itself is institutionally and discursively constructed (Danto, 1964), and additionally mediated by media and experience – thus artificial. For their part, video games are an artistic medium through which artists communicate with audiences, both in traditional art institutions and through the Internet.

Committee

Organizing Committee

• Dušica Dragin – Academy of Arts / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Manojlo Maravić – Academy of Arts / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Stefan Alidini – Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Relja Bobić – Serbian Games Association (SGA)
• Biljana Ristić – Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Danica Stanković – Academy of Arts / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Krinka Baković – The Institute of Ethnography SASA, Serbia
• Vesna Trifunović – The Institute of Ethnography SASA, Serbia
• Tatjana Ristić – SGA, Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Bojana Starčević – Academy of Arts / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Nenad Kuzmanović – Faculty of Technical Sciences /University of Novi Sad

Programme Committee

• Manojlo Maravić – Academy of Arts / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Dunja Dušanić – Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Stefan Alidini – Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Michał Mochocki –  Faculty of History/University of Gdańsk, Poland
• Jakub Majewski – Faculty of Cultural Studies / Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland
• Žolt Lazar – Faculty of Philosophy / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Dušan Ristić – Faculty of Philosophy / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Mila Bujić – Tampere University, Finland
• Ljiljana Gavrilović – Full professor in retirement
• Marko Suvajdžić – Digital Worlds Institute / University of Florida, USA
• Biljana Mitrović – Faculty of Dramatic Arts / University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia
• Miloš Jocić – Faculty of Philosophy / University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• Mladen Čudanov – Faculty of Organisational Sciences / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Gorana Rakić-Bajić – Dr Lazar Vrkatic Faculty of Law and Business Studies/ Union University of Belgrade
• Jasmina Arsenijević – Preschool Teacher Training College of Applied Studies, Kikinda, Serbia
• Zlatko Bukač – Department of English / University of Zadar, Croatia
• Dobrinka Kuzmanović – Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Krinka Baković – The Institute of Ethnography SASA, Serbia
• Vesna Trifunović – The Institute of Ethnography SASA, Serbia
• Tatjana Ristić – SGA, Faculty of Philology / University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Ljubiša Bojić – Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia and Digital Society Lab / Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory / University of Belgrade