Dr Ben Kirman is a designer, developer and lecturer in Interactive Media at the University of York and Digital Creativity Labs. His PhD is in game design for social interaction, and his research uses playful approaches to develop and explore unusual, surprising and unexpected experiences. This is usually digital games, but also includes speculative fiction, board games, twitter bots, and other kinds of weird technology. Ben’s work is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative, including domains such as science fiction, social justice, gig working, animal-computer interaction, non-league football, education and esports. In 2017 he was shortlisted as a BBC New Generation Thinker, and has provided evidence to the House of Lords on the future of AI. His work has been covered widely in the popular press, including Wired, TIME, New Scientist, The Guardian, New York Times, Metro and Your Cat Magazine.