Short talks and poster presentations at the doctoral consortium at the IEEE CoG 2025
In Lisboa, Portugal, 26-29th August, 2025
Author: Tom Tucek
Title: Using Large Language Models to Create Meaningful and Dynamic Interactions in Serious Game Contexts
Abstract: Video games have become the most successful entertainment medium, both in terms of financial success and as a carrier of modern culture. At the same time, recent trends in generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), are bringing about a paradigm shift in how humans interact with games and computers in general. The unpredictability of generative AI has already been utilized to create fun experiences within games, but the same aspect makes it difficult to use in serious contexts (e.g., games dealing with minority status), where unwanted output can potentially cause harm. This doctoral research proposes to find out how LLMs can be used in video games with serious contexts to create and enhance meaningful experiences. Following design science principles, role-playing game (RPG) prototypes that utilize this new technology and deal with serious topics are created and tested for their efficacy in terms of user engagement, narrative coherence, and lasting impact (e.g., changed views or behavior after extended periods of time). Iterative development and validation, through user tests and heuristic evaluations, ensure that the created video game prototypes have the desired effects and findings are incorporated into a framework, which in turn is validated in a long-term study. Other aspects, such as data privacy and latency, are also addressed by focusing on the local deployment of AI models, instead of cloud-based services. The main contribution of this research is a framework that improves the reflected use of generative AI in video games, increasing narrative coherence and player engagement while enabling the creation of games that allow for meaningful, personalized, and dynamic experiences.