The workshop runs as a half-day afternoon session. You can expect a short keynote on playfulness and playful design by Sebastian Deterding, hands-on exploration of participant demos and curated open-source AI music systems, structured individual reflection and group discussion, and a collaborative clustering activity to map shared qualities of playful interaction. The session will close with an open discussion on design implications and future research directions.
All participants will receive a structured observation template before the hands-on session to help guide and record their experience
Introduction to workshop goals and structure
Positioning playfulness within music interaction and AI contexts
Short participant introductions
Connecting playful design theory to digital music interaction and AI
Five selected participants each deliver a five-minute presentation
Presentations may include live demo, slides, or short video
Emphasis on the character of playful interaction design
Observation template distributed to each participant prior to exploration
Interaction with participant demos and curated open-source playful AI music examples
Guided reflection prompts displayed throughout
Participants document playful moments, experiential qualities, and AI specific dynamics using the template
Individual written reflection on the meaning of playful music interaction
Brief sharing of one observation per participant
Individual note-writing on adhesive notes
Collective bottom-up grouping into emergent themes on A3 paper sheets
Transfer of agreed clusters to shared Miro board
Returning to the clusters
Identifying and refining AI-specific and autonomy-dependent qualities of playfulness
Guided provocations drawn from themes emerging across the session
Design implications for AI music-making
Future research directions and collaborative writing plan