Nikki Dunsire

IP -

Title: Steering the Machine: A Blueprint for Ethical AI‑Enabled Workflows in Games & Interactive Media

Problem. Generative AI is entering every stage of game and interactive production—ideation, art, level design, code, audio, QA. It promises speed and reach, but raises questions of authorship, provenance, labor, bias, and creative control.

Goal. My research is looking at the ethics (including sustainability and environmental impact) and practices of creating in the age of machine intelligence, with games/interactive media as the testing ground. I'm looking to deliver three integrated contributions:

1.  A living catalogue of AI‑driven content generation tools (text, image, audio, code, 3D, level design), profiled by capability, licensing/provenance, deployment, and risk 
2.  A multi‑criteria evaluation of current and potential uses in production pipelines, combining quality, effort/time, authorship control, bias/representation, IP exposure, and environmental cost
3.  Build a real vertical‑slice project using these tools to empirically test where AI enhances outcomes removes menial tasks, tests ethical and practical trade‑offs against a non‑AI baseline and keeps the human creator in the driver’s seat.

The project will provide evidence‑based guidance for creators, educators, and toolmakers, and a vision of what future production could look like for games and interactive experiences when AI augments rather than replaces human creativity.