AI & Critical Play
https://www.neme.org/projects/ai-critical-play
Play is one of the most important mechanisms that help people develop, learn, and stay emotionally healthy throughout life. Instead of being seen as something that distracts us, playing is essential for the development of the brain, healthy body, and create or maintain good relationships with others.
Critical games emphasise strategy, logic, and analysis, and demand tactical foresight, risk management, and psychological flexibility whilst offering distinct cognitive, emotional, and social advantages.
This autumn, NeMe will host a series of board games developed by Alexia Achilleos that critically examine and challenge AI in a challenging but fun, collaborative manner.
All are welcome – no previous knowledge of AI is required. Come and play with us!
The Fox who Tricked the Superintelligence & Other Stories
Date and time: 21 Oct 2026; 18:30
The Fox who tricked the Superintelligence is a card-based game where players respond to Big Tech’s myths by collaboratively creating fairy tales. The aim is to redistribute the power of storytelling among players, according to their own values. The game takes place in a parallel world. In this world, a Civilisation has promised that an all-powerful Superintelligence is coming, or, perhaps it may have even become a reality. Through the stories we create, we find out what happened. Did the Superintelligence make that world a better place? Did it destroy humanity? Did that world’s inhabitants resist the Superintelligence? Or repeat the same mistakes? The stories created during play sessions will form an anthology of alternative fairy tales about our technological futures.
Beyond (the sea and) uncanny valleys and American smiles
Date and time: TBA
Set in a world where Silicon Valley AI companies have colonised new territories, you take on the role of a solitary cartographer. Your task is to navigate and document the changing landscapes of your hometown’s colonisation, caused by the imperial processes of Silicon Valley’s generative AI. The game explores how the Majority World is (mis)represented in the age of generative AI. Through interactions with various AI colonial systems, you wander across the land and sketch a map of your experiences — the places you see, the inhabitants you meet, and your reflections. Be wary of colonial agents serving Big Tech AI companies! Approach them with caution and scrutinise their answers.
Note: We will generate AI images and text as part of the game. Please bring a device (ie. laptop, tablet, smartphone) that can access the internet.
The AI Colonialism Board Game
Date and time: TBA
A collaborative board game that speculates on the societal impact of AI on a local, Cypriot level, in a playful way. Inspired by decolonial and feminist thought, the game encourages reflection from the point of view of a region that is on the peripheries of the global AI race. The game prompts collective reflection on how AI colonialism impacts the local Cypriot communities and investigate what kinds of power asymmetries are at play — both on a global level, but also within Cypriot society. Not everyone will be impacted by AI the same way.
Credits
Alexia Achilleos is a Cypriot artist and researcher, who uses play to examine power and technology with others, through a postcolonial, decolonial, and feminist lens. Her work includes game-based artworks that critically examine AI power dynamics in a collaborative and playful manner. Through play, we will speculate on AI’s societal impact in Cyprus, examine how generative AI (mis)represents our local realities, and challenge the promises of Silicon Valley by creating stories about alternative technological futures.
Photo: Loucas Stavrou
