BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865370834
DTSTART:20260105T180000Z
DTEND:20260105T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865372883
DTSTART:20260107T180000Z
DTEND:20260107T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865373908
DTSTART:20260109T180000Z
DTEND:20260109T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865374933
DTSTART:20260112T180000Z
DTEND:20260112T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865376982
DTSTART:20260114T180000Z
DTEND:20260114T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865378007
DTSTART:20260116T180000Z
DTEND:20260116T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865380056
DTSTART:20260121T180000Z
DTEND:20260121T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865382105
DTSTART:20260123T180000Z
DTEND:20260123T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865384154
DTSTART:20260126T180000Z
DTEND:20260126T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865385179
DTSTART:20260128T180000Z
DTEND:20260128T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T224549Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51462865386204
DTSTART:20260130T180000Z
DTEND:20260130T190000Z
DESCRIPTION:Sony Interactive Entertainment Comes to MIT\n\nSony Interactive
  Entertainment (SIE)\, creators of the PlayStation platform\, and the Comp
 uter Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT partner
 ed last January to launch a new IAP course exploring the nexus of video ga
 mes and artificial intelligence. This highly popular course brought togeth
 er students\, researchers\, and industry practitioners to examine how AI i
 s transforming the design\, play\, and social impact of games.\n\nThis yea
 r\, an expanded version of the course will be available for credit and wil
 l be led by Professor Fredo Durand. Like last year\, the course will combi
 ne a series of lectures and hackathon-style projects\, the latter chosen f
 rom a list of examples or otherwise devised\, to introduce students to gam
 e creation\, current game-related research and an exploration of the techn
 ology\, the art and the fun of video games.\n\nStudents wishing to take th
 is course for credit must apply through the Registrar's website. \n\nIf yo
 u are interested in taking this course over IAP and receive no credit or y
 ou are not an MIT student\, please email Nicole Hoffman (nicolemh@mit.edu)
  to be placed on the waitlist. \n\nDescription: Computers and gaming have 
 grown up together. Since Bertie the Brain learned to play Tic Tac Toe in 1
 950\, computers have hosted\, played\, and designed increasingly sophistic
 ated games as they have grown in power. For every computer science paper o
 n the arXiv – from computer vision to LLMs to personal immersion to cogn
 itive science and general AI – there are a half dozen use cases you can 
 name in the creation of video games. Furthermore\, video games provide new
  worlds and synthetic data that test and stretch the capabilities of machi
 ne learning models – so the relationship is synergistic.\nThrough lectur
 es and discussions\, students in Nexus II will engage with topics includin
 g interactive storytelling\, responsible AI\, human–computer interaction
 \, and advances in large-scale data platforms. Speakers from both academia
  and industry will share perspectives on how AI is reshaping the way games
  are created and experienced\, and how games themselves are being used as 
 testbeds for advancing AI.\n\n\nAudience: The course is targeted at those 
 who have an interest in video games and machine learning. There are no spe
 cific prerequisites. \n\nStructure: Project-oriented course combined with 
 lectures.\n\nReadings: Readings will be chosen from the literature.\n\n\nT
 he program is designed to be accessible to a broad MIT audience\, requirin
 g no specialized background in computer science or game development. We en
 courage students with an interest in art\, psychology\, writing\, social i
 mpact and design of games to participate.\n\nFormat (2026 Updates)\n\nThe 
 2026 edition of Nexus expands in scope and ambition. The course will now b
 e offered for MIT credit\, with Professor Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) serving
  as faculty sponsor. To accommodate demand\, the class will meet in a larg
 er space with a maximum enrollment of 60 students.\n \n\n- Schedule: 12 le
 ctures\, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays\, January 5–30\, 2026.\n\n- Time: Mo
 st lectures will be from 1 – 2 pm with an extra half hour for discussion
 . Jan 12 will have two lectures back-to-back from 11:00-12:00 & 1:00– 2:
 00pm. \n\n- Structure: Lectures (~60–75 minutes) with Q&A\, culminating 
 in student team projects presented on January 30.\n- Recording: Pending ap
 proval\, lectures will be recorded and made available on MIT’s YouTube c
 hannel.\n\nLecturers\n\nJan 5 – Mike Stopa (Sony Interactive Entertainme
 nt) & Fredo Durand (MIT CSAIL) — Introduction & Course OverviewJan 7 –
  Nate Gross (Sr. Manager\, Software Engineering\, SIE) — A big-picture t
 our of how AI is reshaping design\, art\, code\, testing\, and live ops\, 
 from idea to shipped game Jan 9 – Erick Flores (SIE) — The Learned Ren
 derer: Bridging Computer Graphics and Machine LearningJan 12 –\n(i) Gale
  Lucas (University of Southern California) — AI with Social Influence fo
 r Enjoyment in Gaming\; This session will take place 11-12 plus Q&A in 32-
 G449 (KIVA)(ii) Ryan Valenza (Sr. Director\, AI and Data Platform\, SIE) 
 — AI for Game Development and OperationsJan 14 – Neil Ingram (SIE) - A
 I in Game Production: Navigating Risk\, Unlocking OpportunityJan 16 – Ra
 m Barankin (SIE) — Leveraging Social Media and Generative AI to Understa
 nd GamersJan 19 – holidayJan 21 – Leanne Chukoskie (Northeastern Unive
 rsity) — Eyes on the game: what gaze behavior can tell us about player s
 kill in Rocket LeagueJan 23 – Jennifer Corbett (MIT) - Don't let your le
 arned preferences control youJan 26 – Logan Olson (Haven and Nexus I alu
 mnus) – 0-1 game dev with ML Jan 28 – Fox Harrell – confirmed. Title
  TBDJan 30 – Student Project Presentations & After-Party\n Lectures Jan 
 5 – 16 will take place in Stata Center on the first floor in Classroom 3
 2-144\n\nLectures Jan 21 – 30 will take place in Stata Center on the fir
 st floor in Classroom 32-124\n\nThe final project presentations will take 
 place in Stata center 4th Floor\, Seminar Room 32-G449 (KIVA)\n \n\nGoals\
 n\n- Highlight cutting-edge research at the interface of AI and games\, sp
 anning perception\, cognition\, storytelling\, and design.\n- Provide stud
 ents with practical and theoretical insights from both academic and indust
 ry experts.\n- Foster collaboration and create a pipeline for research int
 ernships and future careers in AI and games.\n- Share knowledge broadly by
  publishing recorded lectures via CSAIL’s YouTube channel (pending appro
 val).\n\nProject Examples\n\n- Designing an AI-driven non-player character
  (NPC) that adapts to player behavior.\n- Building a prototype of an inter
 active story generator guided by large language models.\n- Studying player
  engagement with different reinforcement learning–driven mechanics.\n- E
 xploring responsible AI in gaming contexts (e.g.\, bias mitigation\, ethic
 al design).\n- Investigating accessibility and inclusivity in game interac
 tion through AI-driven tools.\n\nFinal Session\n\nOn January 30\, student 
 teams will present their projects to the class\, guest lecturers\, and inv
 ited colleagues. This capstone session will be followed by an after-party 
 celebrating the close of Nexus II.
GEO:42.361965;-71.090261
LOCATION:Building 32\, 32-144: MWF 01/05/26 - 01/16/26 & 32-124: MWF 01/21/
 26 - 01/30/26
SUMMARY:The Nexus of Games and AI (Nexus II): MIT IAP 2026
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/the-nexus-of-games-and-ai-nexu
 s-ii-mit-iap-2026
CATEGORIES:IAP (Independent Activities Period)
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR