Thema der Dissertation:
Anthrogames:
Transforming Ethnographic Knowledge into Interactive AI Systems Thema der Disputation:
Open Challenges of Building Culturally Informed Interactive Experiences and Games
Anthrogames:
Transforming Ethnographic Knowledge into Interactive AI Systems Thema der Disputation:
Open Challenges of Building Culturally Informed Interactive Experiences and Games
Abstract: This talk explores the open challenges of developing culturally grounded interactive experiences and games, so-called Anthrogames. These are defined as interactive narrative systems whose mechanics, characters and world-logic are systematically derived from ethnographic corpora through LLM-mediated transformation. The talk situates this attempt within three interconnected theoretical backgrounds. First, it traces the trajectory of AI-driven interactive storytelling, from early systems relying on handcrafted branching structures, such as Façade, to contemporary LLM-powered approaches enabling adaptive dialogue and flexible narrative generation. While these developments have significantly advanced the field, their application has remained largely confined to fictional and entertainment-oriented contexts. Second, it examines the role of large language models and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) as the technical backbone for grounding game content in ethnographic sources, highlighting a key open problem: ethnographic scholarship encodes meaning through narrative structure, argumentation, and reflexivity, forms of knowledge that do not decompose cleanly into discrete retrievable facts.
Third, the talk addresses cultural alignment and safeguarding, discussing how LLMs carry embedded cultural biases that may distort ethnographic source material, and how gameplay environments require robust, culturally sensitive approaches to hate speech detection and the prevention of cultural misrepresentation. Against this theoretical backdrop, four core research challenges are introduced: the formal definition of Anthrogames, the systematic transformation of ethnographic monographs into playable content, the evaluation of cultural authenticity, and the development of safeguarding mechanisms for Anthrogame environments.
Third, the talk addresses cultural alignment and safeguarding, discussing how LLMs carry embedded cultural biases that may distort ethnographic source material, and how gameplay environments require robust, culturally sensitive approaches to hate speech detection and the prevention of cultural misrepresentation. Against this theoretical backdrop, four core research challenges are introduced: the formal definition of Anthrogames, the systematic transformation of ethnographic monographs into playable content, the evaluation of cultural authenticity, and the development of safeguarding mechanisms for Anthrogame environments.
Time & Location
Jun 11, 2026 | 10:15 AM
Seminarraum 018
(Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik, Arnimallee 7, 14195 Berlin)
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WebEx