Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE) organizers have announced the list of invited speakers for this year’s event. Invitees will share their insights into the field’s recent developments and future directions. The line-up includes luminaries of game design, development, and entertainment research:

• Michael Booth (Valve)
• Richard Evans (Maxis / Electronic Arts)
• David Hernández Cerpa (LucasArts)
• Michael Mateas (UC Santa Cruz)
• Paul Tozour

“This year's AIIDE academic and industry talk lineup is very exciting,” said Michael Youngblood, AIIDE-09 program chair and a research professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “The invited talks are going to present the cutting edge in AI technology behind recently released games and also further the discussion of how the increased demands on AI in entertainment need to be met. The technical submissions are also very strong and will present ideas that we will see in future interactive entertainment. We are all looking forward to the community coming together again and sharing their ideas, work, and passion.”

AIIDE-09 is the fifth annual conference on game AI and interactive entertainment. Conference program includes invited speakers, research and industry presentations, and a lively poster/demonstration session. AIIDE is hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

The conference will take place on October 14-16, 2009, on the campus of Stanford University, CA, USA, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Conference program and more information can be found at www.aiide.org.