Dr. Johanna Pirker
Abstract:
AI is used to create parts of our games. It provides intelligent enemy behavior, techniques such as pathfinding or can be used to generate in-game content procedurally. AI can also play our games. The idea to train computers to beat humans in game-like environments such as Jeopardy!, Chess, or soccer is not a new one. But can AI also design our games? The role of Artificial Intelligence in the game development process is constantly expanding. In this talk, Dr. Pirker will talk about the importance of AI in the past, the present, and especially the future of game development.
Bio:
Dr. Johanna Pirker is researcher at the Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science at Graz University of Technology (TUG). She finished her Master’s Thesis during a research visit at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working on collaborative virtual world environments. In 2017, she finished her doctoral dissertation in computer science on motivational environments under the supervision of Christian Gütl (TUG) and John Belcher (MIT). She specialized in games and environments that engage users to learn, train, and work together through motivating tasks. She has long-lasting experience in game design and development, as well as virtual world development and has worked in the video game industry at Electronic Arts. Her research interests include AI, data analysis, immersive environments (VR), games research, gamification strategies, HCI, e-learning, CSE, and IR. She has authored and presented numerous publications in her field and lectured at universities such as Harvard, Berlin Humboldt Universität, or the University of Göttingen. Johanna was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of science professionals.
