AIIDE 2008 Game AI Conference Line-Up Finalized

The final line-up of speakers at the fourth Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE) conference has been announced, with the event due to take place at Stanford University, California on October 22nd to 24th. Billed as the premier conference on artificial intelligence in video games and entertainment, the conference is hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). The finalized line-up of speakers includes Doug Church and Borut Pfeifer from Electronic Arts, David Cope from the University of California Santa Cruz, Eric Grundstrom from Electronic Arts/Maxis, Damian Isla from Bungie Studios and Steve Rabin from Nintendo, DigiPen Institute of Technology. The conference also features a technical program, with papers on research and industry developments, as well as poster/demonstration sessions. "This year's technical submissions have been particularly strong, with over three times the number of submissions from last year, and we're eager to share them with the community," commented Chris Darken, program chair and a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. "It's an exciting time for entertainment AI," said Michael Mateas, conference chair and researcher at the University of California at Santa Cruz. "We've seen many recent games succeed thanks to smart gameplay, interesting interactive characters, and lifelike worlds. AI is at the core of bringing all these elements to life. And AIIDE is where many of these new AI approaches are first presented, and where existing techniques are explored in depth." Further information can be found at the official website.