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Serious Games & Artificial Intelligence

Course overview

Dr. Rob Seater

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Seater

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This material is based upon work supported under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002 and/or FA8702-15-D-0001. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Air Force.

Delivered to the U.S. Government with Unlimited Rights, as defined in DFARS Part 252.227-7013 or 7014 (Feb 2014). Notwithstanding any copyright notice, U.S. Government rights in this work are defined by DFARS 252.227-7013 or DFARS 252.227-7014 as detailed above. Use of this work other than as specifically authorized by the U.S. Government may violate any copyrights that exist in this work.

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Today’s tasks

This course is “Serious Games with Artificial Intelligence”
Lecture: Course Info

Staff, Rules, Course Overview
AI Safety Video
Break !?!?!

Mind Mapping

Explanation, Illustration

Math puzzler

Reading Groups

Lecture: Serious Games
Minecraft!
Tomorrow, class starts at 10am East Coast / 7am West Coast

Show up at 9:45 for attendance

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STAFF

Instructors

Rob Seater (he/him); MIT LL, serious games, requirements engineering, project leadership, modeling
Jo Kurucar (they/them); MIT LL, AI, data analysis, former Coast Guard
Lydia Zuehsow (she/her); MIT LL, software engineering, AI implementation

Teaching Assistants (TA’s)

Eric Zou – former SGAI (2023)
Jessica Chen – former SGAI (2024)
Rosha Gheshm – former SGAI (2024)
Enzo Markarian – former SGAI (2025)
Jana Leung – former SGAI (2025)
Ariel Zhang – former SGAI (2025)
Aritro Bhattachargee – former SGAI (2025), part time
Zhihui / Z / Jerry – Duke, Media Studies, CS

Research Students (2^nd year; mostly invisible)

Nya – former SGAI (2025)
Eshaan – former SGAI (2025)
Isaac – former SGAI (2025)
Xi – former SGAI (2025)

Guest Lecturers

Mark Bigney – medical ethicist, boardgame podcaster
Dr. John Seater – macro economist, mathematical models of innovation
Manny Mallea – software developer, project lead, indie game developer
Tim Dasey – AI research supervisor, author
Your friendly neighborhood TAs

Echoes of Olivia Brown, Amna Greaves, TAs past

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Rules

BWSI Rules

No 1-1 voice meetings between students and staff (1-2 or many-1 are fine)
Discord text chat fine (recorded, keep it on our channel)
You must be available for roll call twice a day (cameras on, real names)
Code of conduct – on discord & covered here in a moment

SGAI Rules

Treat this as a low-key professional setting
If you are stressed or bored, come talk to us

We are all here to help all of you

TA-to-team assignments are just a 1^st line of defense. Ask any TA, any instructor, or any fellow student for help. Start with your TA if they are around.
Don't be shy about asking questions of anybody who is around; we have different skills and backgrounds. None of us know all the material.

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Code of Conduct 1/4

Violation of the code of conduct is grounds for termination from the course and loss of completion credit, based on the judgement of course instructors and staff.

1. Your username on Zoom, Discord, or whatever must be your name, no aliases, handles, or hard to recognize nicknames allowed� a) Example Good: Rebecca Nameson, Becca Nameson, Becca (if there is only one)� b) Example Bad: Sailor Moon, Garfield, Scooby-do, 1R73h1337� c) If you do not know how to adjust your nickname on the discord server, please ask an instructor for help� �

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Code of Conduct 2/4

2. No profanity, all conversation whether typed or on voice MUST be respectful at all times� a) Remember just because you think no one else is around, it might be you just can’t tell they are� b) Minor swear words like: darn, heck and twaddle are permitted� c) Heuristic: imagine there's an impressionable toddler in the room who will repeat everything you accidentally said� d) Instructors will have the final judgement in determining if language is profane

�3. NO DIRECT MESSAGING� a) You MAY ask for a chat channel for your group, but no private chats are allowed on this server� b) DO NOT initiate a private chat (1:1 or DM) with any instructor�

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Code of Conduct 3/4

4. Ask a Teacher or Admin if:� a) You need help� b) If you feel uncomfortable� c) If you are stuck

�5. Be aware that:� a) “it was just a joke” is not acceptable� b) Teachers and Admins can help you directly, but we’re not allowed to do so alone: that means there must be two of us around which might take time to schedule� c) We are required to provide logs and access to parents or guardians if they ask for it� d) Chat and voice channels are monitored for appropriate use� e) This is an educational program (so regardless of what you’re used to doing on Discord) remember that we are here to win by learning together� f) Teachers have the right to mute/deafen participants to facilitate communication for the group as needed� g) In all cases, Teachers will have the final judgement (this is not a democracy)

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Code of Conduct 4/4

6. Consequences:� a) Minor infractions, such as slips in profanity will result in a warning� b) Multiple warnings will result in being muted or even banned from the channel� c) Any verified instance of bullying will result in insta-ban and probable expulsion from the class� d) Do not change channel permission or configuration� e) No spoofing, creating multiple nicknames or enabling non-class attendees to join� f) Of course if you're banned it will be hard to continue the class� g) TEACHERS WILL HAVE FINAL JUDGEMENT ON ENFORCING THE RULES AND DETERMINING CONSEQUENCES�

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CORE PILLARS

Core Skills

Python ML

Agile SW Teams

Supporting Skills

Serious Games

Technical Presentations

Requirements & Usability

Data Analysis & Visualization

Pragmatic Ethics

AI-Assisted Coding

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SCHEDULE

Show up by 10am (East Coast) / 7am (West Coast) at the Zoom link M-F.

Roll call begins at 9:45am.

If you are ever unsure where you should be or what link to use, send a chat on Discord.
If you are late, tell us and come as soon as you can.

Project

Lectures

Videos

Week 1

Week 4

Week 2

Week 3

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You may do some work evenings & weekends to stay on top of things, but keep it under control.

If you are stressed, feeling behind, or needing to work long hours, talk to us about scope management. This course should involve work but not stress.

A good project requires the entire team but not crazy hours. If either of those isn’t true, we should adjust the project.

You won’t solve these problems being smart and working long hours. You will solve them working as a team and maintaining clear priorities.

Everybody codes, but otherwise we expect lots of specialization of interest & contribution.

We are here to push you and to make sure you succeed. If either isn’t happening, let us know and we will adjust.

There are no grades. Do something interesting that you are proud of. Try new stuff; don’t just do what you’re already good at.

Imposter syndrome is real; it’s not just something other people deal with.

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WORKLOAD

A good project requires the entire team but not crazy hours. If either of those isn’t true, we should adjust the project.

Plan for options to expand and a fallback option

Everybody codes, but otherwise we expect lots of specialization of interest & contribution.
Collaborate. One person should not do all the work, even if they are most experienced. Delegation and collaboration are hard but pay off.
There are no grades. Do something interesting that you are proud of. Try new stuff; don’t just do what you’re already good at.
You are set up to succeed. Keep fallback plans so you can be ambitious.

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