Keynote: Emotion-Centric AI: from Hubris and Nemesis to Catharsis

Georgios N. Yannakakis (University of Malta, Malta), Abstract: Why bother about emotions and their computation? Why is emotion such a critical element of every aspect of AI and Games research nowadays? How can emotion help us test games, represent the games we play, design creative AI algorithms, offer reliable agency to AI, and ultimately understand player experience? In this talk, I will attempt to address these questions through a series of milestone research studies (hubris) that led to a number of key lessons learned over the years (nemesis). I will conclude the talk by suggesting directions through which emotion can reframe the ways we build AI algorithms and develop games (catharsis).