Authors:
Dennis J. N. J. Soemers, Jakub Kowalski, Walter Crist, Summer Courts, Tim Penn, Eric Piette

Venue:
International Computer Games Association (ICGA) Journal, 2025

Topics:
GameTable, general game playing, explainability, reinforcement learning, cultural heritage, interdisciplinary research

Links: PDF · ICGA Journal

This paper reports on the GameTable Working Group 1 meeting held in London in January 2025, focusing on game-playing AI and its connections to cultural heritage research.

The meeting brought together researchers working on search algorithms, reinforcement learning, and knowledge representation, alongside scholars studying traditional games from archaeological and cultural perspectives. A key outcome was the identification of a strong need for accessible resources to bridge these two communities.

The report summarises presentations, discussions, and emerging research directions aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between AI and cultural heritage.

This work is part of the GameTable COST Action, which aims to connect artificial intelligence with the study of traditional games as cultural artefacts.

A central insight of the meeting is the gap between AI methodologies and cultural heritage research practices, highlighting the need for shared frameworks, case studies, and communication tools.

The report also outlines concrete research opportunities, including simulation-based analysis of ancient games, explainable AI methods, and the development of human-like game-playing agents—key directions aligned with ongoing work in general game playing and interdisciplinary AI.

Soemers, D. J. N. J., Kowalski, J., Crist, W., Courts, S., Penn, T., Piette, E. (2025). Bridging AI and Cultural Heritage: Outcomes from the GameTable WG1 London Meeting. ICGA Journal, 47(1), 41–47.

@article{soemers2025gametable_london,
  author  = {Soemers, Dennis J. N. J. and Kowalski, Jakub and Crist, Walter and Courts, Summer and Penn, Tim and Piette, Eric},
  title   = {Bridging AI and Cultural Heritage: Outcomes from the GameTable WG1 London Meeting},
  journal = {ICGA Journal},
  volume  = {47},
  number  = {1},
  pages   = {41--47},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1177/13896911251329543}
}