Max Kreminski
Education
2017-2022
University of California, Santa Cruz
Ph.D. in Computational Media (2022)
M.S. in Computational Media (2020)
Ph.D. in Computational Media (2022)
M.S. in Computational Media (2020)
2013-2017
University of Southern California
B.A. in Interactive Entertainment
Minor in Game User Research
B.A. in Interactive Entertainment
Minor in Game User Research
Employment
Since 2023
Midjourney
Research Scientist and Director, Storytelling Lab
Research Scientist and Director, Storytelling Lab
2022-2024
Santa Clara University
Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty Scholar, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty Scholar, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Since 2020
Independent consulting
Clients include Zynga’s Applied AI group and Fable Studio
Clients include Zynga’s Applied AI group and Fable Studio
2017-2022
University of California, Santa Cruz
Graduate Student Researcher, Expressive Intelligence Studio
Graduate Student Researcher, Expressive Intelligence Studio
2016-2017
University of Southern California
Undergraduate Research Associate, Mobile & Environmental Media Lab (F2016-Su2017)
Undergraduate Research Associate, Game Innovation Lab (Su2016)
Undergraduate Research Associate, Mobile & Environmental Media Lab (F2016-Su2017)
Undergraduate Research Associate, Game Innovation Lab (Su2016)
2015-2017
User Behavioristics
Junior User Researcher
Junior User Researcher
Honors and Awards
2025
Invited Participant, Dagstuhl Seminar 25292 New Frontiers in AI for Game Design
2024
Best Paper [C28], C&C 2024
2023
Invited Participant, Polaris Game Design Retreat
2023
Exceptional Service, FDG 2023
2022
Finalist for Best Student Paper [C21], ICIDS 2022
2022
Best Artifact [C20], AIIDE 2022
2022
Resident, Stochastic Labs
2021
Best Paper [C13], FDG 2021
2021
Best Game or Demo [PD3], FDG 2021
2021
Second Place [W8], Generative Design in Minecraft Competition
2020
Best Reviewer, ICIDS 2020
Awarded to top 14% of reviewers.
Awarded to top 14% of reviewers.
2020
Exceptional Paper [C9], FDG 2020
Awarded to top 22% of papers.
Awarded to top 22% of papers.
2019
Best Paper Honorable Mention [C4], FDG 2019
Awarded to top 17% of full papers.
Awarded to top 17% of full papers.
Publications
Book Chapters
[B2]
Authoring for Story Sifters.
.
In The Authoring Problem: Challenges in Supporting Authoring for Interactive Digital Narratives. Springer, 2022.
.
In The Authoring Problem: Challenges in Supporting Authoring for Interactive Digital Narratives. Springer, 2022.
[B1]
Academical: A Choice-Based Interactive Storytelling Game for Enhancing Moral Reasoning, Knowledge, and Attitudes in Responsible Conduct of Research.
.
In Games and Narrative: Theory and Practice. Springer, 2021.
.
In Games and Narrative: Theory and Practice. Springer, 2021.
Journal Articles
[J1]
Using Self-Determination Theory to Explore Enjoyment of Educational Interactive Narrative Games: A Case Study of Academical.
.
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2022.
.
Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2022.
Conference Papers
[C30]
Computational Poetry is Lost Poetry.
.
HTTF 2024. 35% acceptance rate (selected for thematic panel).
.
HTTF 2024. 35% acceptance rate (selected for thematic panel).
[C29]
Patchview: LLM-Powered Worldbuilding with Generative Dust and Magnet Visualization.
.
UIST 2024. 24% acceptance rate.
.
UIST 2024. 24% acceptance rate.
[C28]
Homogenization Effects of Large Language Models on Human Creative Ideation.
.
C&C 2024. 21% acceptance rate. Best Paper (top 1%).
.
C&C 2024. 21% acceptance rate. Best Paper (top 1%).
[C27]
Evaluating Creativity Support Tools via Homogenization Analysis.
.
CHI LBW 2024. 34% acceptance rate.
.
CHI LBW 2024. 34% acceptance rate.
[C26]
[C25]
[C24]
[C23]
Being Social in VR Meetings: A Landscape Analysis of Current Tools.
.
DIS 2023. 24% acceptance rate.
.
DIS 2023. 24% acceptance rate.
[C22]
[C21]
Constructing a Catbox: Story Volume Poetics in Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
.
ICIDS 2022. Finalist for Best Student Paper.
.
ICIDS 2022. Finalist for Best Student Paper.
[C20]
Loose Ends: A Mixed-Initiative Creative Interface for Playful Storytelling.
.
AIIDE 2022. Best Artifact.
.
AIIDE 2022. Best Artifact.
[C19]
A Coauthorship-Centric History of Interactive Emergent Narrative.
.
ICIDS 2021. 25% acceptance rate.
.
ICIDS 2021. 25% acceptance rate.
[C18]
[C17]
[C16]
[C15]
[C14]
[C13]
[C12]
Improving Undergraduate Attitudes Towards Responsible Conduct of Research Through an Interactive Storytelling Game.
.
CHI LBW 2021. 39% acceptance rate.
.
CHI LBW 2021. 39% acceptance rate.
[C11]
Germinate: A Mixed-Initiative Casual Creator for Rhetorical Games.
.
AIIDE 2020. 25% acceptance rate.
.
AIIDE 2020. 25% acceptance rate.
[C9]
Getting Academical: A Choice-Based Interactive Storytelling Game for Teaching Responsible Conduct of Research.
.
FDG 2020. 36% acceptance rate. Exceptional Paper (top 14%).
.
FDG 2020. 36% acceptance rate. Exceptional Paper (top 14%).
[C8]
[C7]
Teaching Responsible Conduct of Research Through an Interactive Storytelling Game.
.
CHI LBW 2020. 42% acceptance rate.
.
CHI LBW 2020. 42% acceptance rate.
[C6]
[C5]
[C4]
StoryAssembler: An Engine for Generating Dynamic Choice-Driven Narratives.
.
FDG 2019. 37% acceptance rate. Best Paper Honorable Mention (top 4%).
.
FDG 2019. 37% acceptance rate. Best Paper Honorable Mention (top 4%).
[C3]
[C2]
Immersive Design Fiction: Using VR to Prototype Speculative Interfaces and Interaction Rituals within a Virtual Storyworld.
.
DIS 2018. 22% acceptance rate.
.
DIS 2018. 22% acceptance rate.
[C1]
Workshop Papers
[W17]
Guiding and Diversifying LLM-Based Story Generation via Answer Set Programming.
.
Wordplay @ ACL 2024.
.
Wordplay @ ACL 2024.
[W16]
[W15]
[W14]
[W13]
AI for AUs: Challenges of Creating Interactive Virtual Characters for Immersive Fanfiction Sandboxes.
.
Metaverse Workshop @ FDG 2022.
.
Metaverse Workshop @ FDG 2022.
[W12]
Unmet Creativity Support Needs in Computationally Supported Creative Writing.
.
In2Writing @ ACL 2022.
.
In2Writing @ ACL 2022.
[W11]
[W10]
Evaluating Mixed-Initiative Creative Interfaces via Expressive Range Coverage Analysis.
.
HAI-GEN @ IUI 2022.
.
HAI-GEN @ IUI 2022.
[W9]
[W8]
AgentCraft: An Agent-Based Minecraft Settlement Generator.
.
EXAG @ AIIDE 2021. Second place in GDMC 2021 (top 10%).
.
EXAG @ AIIDE 2021. Second place in GDMC 2021 (top 10%).
[W7]
[W6]
[W5]
[W4]
[W3]
[W2]
[W1]
Playable Experiences and Demos
[PD9]
[PD8]
[PD7]
[PD6]
[PD5]
Conversation Balance: A Shared VR Visualization to Support Turn-taking in Meetings.
.
CHI Interactivity 2022.
.
CHI Interactivity 2022.
[PD4]
[PD3]
[PD2]
[PD1]
Other Publications
[OP4]
[OP3]
[OP2]
[OP1]
Grants and Fellowships
2023
Investigating Homogenization of Imagination by Generative AI Models. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Hackworth Faculty Research Grant. $5,000. PI.
2022-2023
A Neurosymbolic Approach to Creativity Support for Narrative Writing. SCU University Research Grant. $5,000. PI.
2022-2025
Innovating Online Ethics Training Using a Dynamic Narrative Learning Environment. NSF RETTL. $849,964. Proposal coauthor (with PI Edward Melcer, co-PI Michael Mateas, co-PI Noah Wardrip-Fruin). Not listed as awardee due to student status at proposal submission time.
2022
Graduate Dean’s Research Travel Grant. UCSC Division of Graduate Studies. $400.
2021
Investigating Instrumental Uses of Interactive Narrative Systems. UCSC Computational Media Department. $8,973. PI.
2020-2024
Social Virtual Reality Technology to Improve Networked Meetings. NSF CHS. $373,142. Proposal coauthor and supported PhD student (with PI Katherine Isbister). Not listed as awardee due to student status at proposal submission time.
2019
AIIDE 2019 Travel Grant. AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE). $1,900.
2017-2018
University of California Chancellor’s Fellowship. University of California. $24,000 stipend plus one year of full tuition remission.
Invited Talks and Panels
2024
Panelist,
AI Researchers + Consumer Founders
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Guest lecturer,
Interactive Narrative: From Emergence to Coauthorship
AI for Experience Design (Prof. Mirjam Eladhari), Stockholm University
AI for Experience Design (Prof. Mirjam Eladhari), Stockholm University
Multimodal Inputs for Controllable Story Generation
Interpretability, Steering, and Interfaces Demo Night, South Park Commons
Interpretability, Steering, and Interfaces Demo Night, South Park Commons
Creativity Support Tools
GenAI for Novel UX Study Group, Santa Clara University
GenAI for Novel UX Study Group, Santa Clara University
Panelist,
Creativity in the Era of Large Language Models
NAACL Workshop on Figurative Language Processing (FigLang)
NAACL Workshop on Figurative Language Processing (FigLang)
Creative AI: Lensing the Imagination
Microsoft Research Asia
Microsoft Research Asia
AI for Storytelling: Lensing the Imagination
Autodesk Research
Autodesk Research
Panelist,
“Ask Me Anything” Faculty Panel
Bay Area HCI Gathering, Stanford University
Bay Area HCI Gathering, Stanford University
Creative AI: Lensing the Imagination
AI & Storytelling Talks, University of California, Davis
AI & Storytelling Talks, University of California, Davis
Blabrecs: Weirding Language with AI-Based Gameplay
Experimental Game Workshop (EGW), Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Experimental Game Workshop (EGW), Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Storytelling Research at Midjourney
Remarkable AI, Santa Cruz Works
Remarkable AI, Santa Cruz Works
2023
Panelist,
Career Advice for New Faculty
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE)
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE)
Designing AI-Based Play
Otter Jam, California State University, Monterey Bay
Otter Jam, California State University, Monterey Bay
Guest lecturer,
Reflective Creators
GSND 6460 Generative Game Design (Prof. Chris Martens), Northeastern University
GSND 6460 Generative Game Design (Prof. Chris Martens), Northeastern University
“Play” as in “Instrument”: Creativity Support Tools and Game Design
Entertainment Arts and Engineering Lecture Series, University of Utah
Entertainment Arts and Engineering Lecture Series, University of Utah
2022
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
School of Arts, Media and Engineering, Arizona State University
School of Arts, Media and Engineering, Arizona State University
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Department of Computational Arts, York University
Department of Computational Arts, York University
Narrative Instruments and Story Sifting
Fable Studio
Fable Studio
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
School of Interactive Games and Media, Rochester Institute of Technology
School of Interactive Games and Media, Rochester Institute of Technology
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Santa Clara University
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Santa Clara University
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Department of Computer Graphics Technology, Purdue University
Department of Computer Graphics Technology, Purdue University
2021
Creativity Support via Story Sifting
Computer Science Colloquium Series, University of New Orleans
Computer Science Colloquium Series, University of New Orleans
Guest lecturer,
Story Sifting
CS 660 Topics in Artificial Intelligence: Interactive Narrative (Prof. Stephen Ware), University of Kentucky
CS 660 Topics in Artificial Intelligence: Interactive Narrative (Prof. Stephen Ware), University of Kentucky
Toward Narrative Instruments
Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives (ARDIN)
Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives (ARDIN)
2020
Panelist,
Murder Mysteries as a Grand Challenge in Computational Storytelling
AIIDE Workshop on Intelligent Narrative Technologies (INT)
AIIDE Workshop on Intelligent Narrative Technologies (INT)
Synthesizing Story Sifters
Roguelike Celebration
Roguelike Celebration
Panelist,
Games as Story Generators
Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
AI Support for Player Storytelling in Digital Games
Animal Crossing AI Workshop (ACAI)
Animal Crossing AI Workshop (ACAI)
2019
Sifting Stories to Support Player Storytelling
Roguelike Celebration
Roguelike Celebration
Approachable Authoring Tools for Simulation-Driven Interactive Storyworlds
UCSC Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS)
UCSC Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS)
Panelist,
Changes over the last 10 years in PCG research and practice
FDG Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG)
FDG Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG)
Exploring Poemspace Through Procedural Erasure
Computational Poetry Workshop
Computational Poetry Workshop
Procedural Narrative Design with Parametrized Storylets
Tech Toolbox microtalks, Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Tech Toolbox microtalks, Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Procedural Narrative Design with Parametrized Storylets
Experimental AI for Games microtalks, Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Experimental AI for Games microtalks, Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Making blackout poetry with computers!
!!Con West
!!Con West
2018
Gardening as a Mode of Play
Roguelike Celebration
Roguelike Celebration
Gardening as a Mode of Play
Queerness and Games Conference (QGCon)
Queerness and Games Conference (QGCon)
Proceduralizing Character Development with Parametrized Storylets
UCSC Games Showcase
UCSC Games Showcase
2017
Crafting Compelling Character Arcs for Procedurally Generated Characters
Roguelike Celebration
Roguelike Celebration
Art Exhibitions
This section lists exhibitions without an accompanying academic publication. For exhibitions with an associated publication, see “Playable Experiences and Demos” above.
2023
Generative Advent, curated by Rianna Suen and Mike Cook. Online.
2020
(un)continuity, Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) Conference. Orlando, Florida.
2018
QGCon 2018 Arcade, Queerness and Games Conference (QGCon). Montreal, Quebec.
2018
Now Play This – A Festival of Experimental Game Design. London, England.
2016
Winteractive Festival, USC School of Cinematic Arts. Los Angeles, California.
Teaching
Santa Clara University
Sp2023
COEN 266 Artificial Intelligence
Highest possible median student evaluation scores (5/5) in all categories.
Highest possible median student evaluation scores (5/5) in all categories.
W2023
COEN 174 Software Engineering
F2022
COEN 174 Software Engineering
University of California, Santa Cruz (as Instructor)
Su2021
CMPM 148 Interactive Storytelling
W2021
CMPM 171 Game Design Studio II
University of California, Santa Cruz (as Teaching Assistant)
Sp2022
CMPM 172 Game Design Studio III
W2022
CMPM 171 Game Design Studio II
Sp2020
CMPM 172 Game Design Studio III
W2020
CMPM 171 Game Design Studio II
F2019
CMPM 170 Game Design Studio I
Su2019
CMPM 147 Generative Design
W2019
CMPM 80K Foundations of Video Game Design
F2018
CMPM 176 Game Systems
Su2018
CMPM 80K Foundations of Video Game Design
Conference Tutorials
2023
Introduction to WaveFunctionCollapse @ CoG 2023
Mentoring and Advising
Visiting Researchers
2024
Alex Calderwood (UCSC PhD student). User interfaces for steering creative text generation via large language models.
2024
Taewook Kim (Northwestern PhD student). “Mutant shopping” interfaces for the rapid interactive revision of expressive text via large language models.
Master’s Students
2023-2024
Phoebe J. Wang. Guiding large language models to generate more semantically diverse stories via answer set programming [W17].
2023
Undergraduate Students
2022-2023
James Dameris; Rosaura Hernandez Roman. Praxish, a partial reconstruction of the lost interactive drama framework Versu [C25].
2021
Ari Iramanesh. AgentCraft, an entry for the Generative Design in Minecraft (GDMC) AI Settlement Generation Competition [W8].
2020
Camille Miller. Paper Hearts, an approachable digital game creation tool inspired by queer games and flatgames.
2019
Anthony Medina; Katie Moses. Data collection and coding for a qualitative study of human-AI co-creativity in emergent narrative games [C5].
High School Students (via the UCSC Science Internship Program)
2019
Megna Anand; Anish Kashyap; Daniel Man; Akhil Vemuri. Contributions to the AI-based research game Diarytown [C6].
Service
Conference and Workshop Organization
2024
Artifacts Chair, AIIDE 2024
2024
Keynotes Chair, FDG 2024
2023
Session Chair, Case Studies, AIIDE 2023
2022
Area Co-Chair, Tools and Systems, ICIDS 2022
2021
Co-Organizer, Queer in AI Social @ AIIDE 2021
Since 2021
Steering Committee Member, EXAG @ AIIDE
2020
Publicity Co-Chair, AIIDE 2020
2020
Co-Organizer, EXAG @ AIIDE 2020
2020
Co-Organizer, Casual Creators Workshop @ ICCC 2020
2019
Demonstrations Chair, ICIDS 2019
2019
Co-Organizer, EXAG @ AIIDE 2019
2019
Co-Organizer, Computery Zine Fest @ !!Con West 2019
Reviewing and Program Committee Membership
Journals
AI & Society (AI&S)
Nature Human Behavior (NatHumBehav)
Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR)
IEEE Transactions on Games (ToG)
Entertainment Computing (EntCom)
Nature Human Behavior (NatHumBehav)
Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR)
IEEE Transactions on Games (ToG)
Entertainment Computing (EntCom)
Conferences
ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)
Recognized 3× for Outstanding Review.
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY)
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE)
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS)
International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS)
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
IEEE Conference on Games (CoG)
International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC)
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design (EvoMUSART)
Halfway to the Future Symposium (HTTF)
IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI)
Recognized 3× for Outstanding Review.
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY)
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE)
ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS)
International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS)
International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG)
IEEE Conference on Games (CoG)
International Conference on Computational Creativity (ICCC)
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Music, Sound, Art and Design (EvoMUSART)
Halfway to the Future Symposium (HTTF)
IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI)
Workshops
Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants (In2Writing)
FDG Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG)
AIIDE Workshop on Experimental AI in Games (EXAG)
AIIDE Workshop on Programming Languages and Interactive Entertainment (PLIE)
Workshop on Casual Creators (CasCre)
FDG Workshop on Human-AI Interaction Through Play
ICSE Workshop on Games and Software Engineering (GAS)
FDG Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG)
AIIDE Workshop on Experimental AI in Games (EXAG)
AIIDE Workshop on Programming Languages and Interactive Entertainment (PLIE)
Workshop on Casual Creators (CasCre)
FDG Workshop on Human-AI Interaction Through Play
ICSE Workshop on Games and Software Engineering (GAS)
Departmental Service
2019-2020
Community Management Assistant, UCSC Computational Media Department
Selected Media Coverage
2024
“What AI-generated writing is missing”
Digital Frontier, August 2024
Digital Frontier, August 2024
2023
“Google’s Bard Writes Convincingly About Known Conspiracy Theories”
Bloomberg, April 2023
Bloomberg, April 2023
“ChatGPT Reignites the Search Wars Between Google and Microsoft”
Bloomberg, February 2023
Bloomberg, February 2023
2022
“Google Debate Over ‘Sentient’ Bots Overshadows Deeper AI Issues”
Bloomberg, June 2022
Bloomberg, June 2022
2021
“Placement games were 2021’s most calming trend”
Polygon, December 2021
Polygon, December 2021
“Procedural storytelling is exploding the possibilities of video game narratives”
The Verge, November 2021
The Verge, November 2021
“How the Grid Kid Became King of the Online Spelling Bee”
Spectacular Vernacular (Slate podcast), August 2021
Spectacular Vernacular (Slate podcast), August 2021
“Why you should trust reindeer to pick stocks over politicians”
New Scientist, January 2021
New Scientist, January 2021
2020
“New AI Scrabble mod only allows words that don’t exist”
The Next Web, December 2020
The Next Web, December 2020
“17: Words of the Week of the Year 2020”
Because Language, December 2020
Because Language, December 2020
2019
“Storylets: You Want Them”
Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling, November 2019
Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling, November 2019
“Survey of Storylets-based Design”
Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling, January 2019
Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling, January 2019
2018
“Have Academics Finally Found the Perfect Meme?”
Chronicle of Higher Education, April 2018
Chronicle of Higher Education, April 2018
2017
“IF Only: Apocalypse Eve”
Rock Paper Shotgun, January 2017
Rock Paper Shotgun, January 2017