AITech
A decision-based online game meant to educate the general public on how tech corporations are negatively impacting the environment through the implementation of AI in some of their biggest business strategies.
Skills
Prototyping
Research
UI/UX Design
Role
UI/UX Designer
Researcher
Tools
Figma
GitHub
Duration
September 2024 to December 2024
the Problem
How can we educate the public on the environmental impact of tech corporations' AI initiatives?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a key part of many new tech initiatives. Although it has made information easily accessible and streamlined different innovative projects, AI requires a large energy source that overtime will severely damage our environment. Many tech corporations, such as Tesla, publicize their climate change initiatives while housing large AI databases. The general public have been used to taking a large part of the blame for increased carbon emissions, and corporations typically place this blame in order to push their own agenda without seeing a dip in their profits.
Process Breakdown
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Research
Defining the Problem
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Related Work and Inspiration
To better understand the format of pre-existing decision-based games and media, we conducted play-throughs and studied the deconstruction of each decision and its following path.
getbadnews.com
Choose Your Own Adventure Books (CYOA Library)
The Trolley Game
Ideation
Initial Project Brainstorming
Our project overall needed to relate to AI and Energy, with an emphasis on how we can promote civic change within this topic. Individually, each of us sketched project ideas for what a decision-based game focused on AI and Energy would look like, as well as who our audience would be.
All our sketches centered on an "A or B" decision-based playstyle, where each user decision influences future scenarios and the final outcome. We identified shifting social norms as a key strategy for driving civic change. Many people believe their personal AI usage for simple tasks (homework or job applications) is a major contributor to rising carbon emissions. However, this misconception is driven by corporations framing their AI initiatives as socially beneficial while shifting blame onto the public. Our game aims to challenge this narrative by providing users with real-world examples of how large corporations leverage AI and the environmental costs associated with it.
Preliminary Lo-Fis
In the next stage of the ideation process, we expanded on our original sketches by creating individual Lo-Fi prototypes and brainstorming potential scenarios. After conducting user tests, we decided to incorporate a progress bar to track the company's environmental impact, benefits, and profits as the game progresses. This feature encourages users to think critically about their decisions, as each choice carries tangible consequences.
Defining AI Tech's Impact
After developing our Lo-Fi prototype, we focused on defining the lasting impact of our game on players. Our primary goal is to highlight how corporate decisions about AI can negatively impact the environment. By doing so, we aim to encourage the public to think more critically about large corporations. Additionally, our game explores how AI intersects with other societal issues like the economy and politics, offering players a more comprehensive understanding of its impact.
We aim for players to leave with a sense of engagement in current events related to AI, recognizing it as a prevalent force in our lives. By incorporating real-world examples, we want to create a new norm for people to start critically thinking about large corporations and also be surprised by the real-world examples of these AI initiatives.
User Testing
User Flow
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Usability Testing
Pre Gameplay
Post Gameplay
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29%
increase
in user understanding
Final Solution
Feel free to click through the game