A recent article published in the journal Nature shows how playful formats are opening up new ways to involve citizens in debates about future technologies. The focus is on the serious game ‘Ages of Technology Impacts’, which was developed in the EU project TechEthos at the AIT Centre for Innovation Systems & Policy. The game invites people to think together about the ethical and social consequences of technological developments.
‘In moderated workshops, participants take on the role of a Citizen World Council and jointly decide on possible development paths for technologies such as neurotechnologies, natural language processing, extended reality and climate engineering,’ says one of the authors, Wenzel Mehnert.
The game-based format stimulates intensive discussions about opportunities, risks and social values, while also providing valuable insights into public attitudes and expectations. The results make it clear that issues of safety, fairness, responsibility and social participation play a central role in the evaluation of new technologies – and that playful participation formats can be a particularly lively and effective way of incorporating citizens' perspectives into technology development and governance at an early stage.
Mehnert, W., Bernstein, M.J., Umbrello, S. et al. Ethical playgrounds: unveiling a serious game for technological ethics within the TechEthos project. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06645-x