Artificial Intelligence and Playable Media

This book introduces readers to artificial intelligence (AI) through the lens of playable media and explores the impact of such software on everyday life.

From video games to robotic companions to digital twins, artificial intelligence drives large sectors of the culture industry where play, media and machine learning coexist. This book illustrates how playable media contribute to our sense of self, while also harnessing our data, tightening our bonds with computation and realigning play with the demands of network logic. Author Eric Freedmanexamines a number of popular media forms - from the Sony AIBO robotic dog, video game developer Naughty Dog¿s Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises, to Peloton¿s connected fitness equipment - to lay bare the computational processes that undergird playable media, and addresses the social, cultural, technological and economic forces that continue to shape user-centered experience and design. The case studies are drawn