The City, The Street, The Lens - Photographic Perspectives on Generative Systems - A Talk by Mike Cook

Abstract

Procedural generation has been influencing game design for almost fifty years now, but in the last fifteen years its impact has been especially acute. Using algorithms in a creative process has reshaped how we play and talk about games, and laid the groundwork for a lot of contemporary generative AI horror stories. In all these decades our understanding of procedural generation has barely changed, and the way we use it in games has stagnated. Instead, we’ve turned to generative AI to skip the interesting parts of procedural generation, and shortcut our way to infinite ‘stuff’. What’s the alternative? What does the future of the word ‘generate’ look like? In this talk, Mike Cook explores procedural generation through a different kind of lens. Walking through the streets of London at night, driving the highways of 1970s Japan, stalking the streets of the East Village in the 1950s, we’ll consider the idea of `generative systems’ through discussing street photography and the philosophy and history of taking photos of the world around us. There’ll be lots of beautiful photos of cities, talk about game design and accidents, and trying to accept the chaos around us. Please bring your camera or smartphone if you’d like.