When it comes to LARP (live-action role-playing) where games and gamers are supposed to play an AI, most people would assume a scenario is a machine rebelling against humans. But this is not the case with some titles. Instead of recreating a Terminator-like scenario, these games will help gamers answer the question: what does it feel like to be someone else’s software.
The Power Button
This game is built around forging a deep emotional connection between two players. One is artificial intelligence and the other is AI’s human counterpart. The human in the scenario is participating in a commercial software trial for an AI (played by the second player) which has been developed to suit his emotional needs. The human can basically reset the AI to its factory setting whenever he feels like it…
Factory Reset – A Game About AI, Memory & Sentience
In this game, 9 to 12 play robots that have been sent to an industrial warehouse to have their memories wiped. In this world, memory reset for robots is something normal and it’s recommended on a regular basis. Each player gets a different role, some are simplistic but some are more complex such as a female robot who was in love with her longtime human partner who sold her when he needed money. By design, you can’t rebel in this game, nor will any of the mechanic workers help you. You just follow the script and face your memory wipe sentence.
Better Living Through Robotics
A similar idea like the previous one, this 10-player game was developed as part of the annual Peaky Midwest LARP-writing workshop. The game’s prewritten characters live in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity’s survivors are all contained within a high-tech utopia called the BioDome. The storyline has six related human characters and four robot employees considering who will manage the BioDome as its creator steps down.
Although we have no way of knowing if we’re capable of developing AI that’s sophisticated enough to experience emotions, the idea behind these games is admirable and quite interesting.