Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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We welcome our first guest to the AI and Games podcast: Dr Michael Cook is a senior lecturer at King’s College London and has over a decade’s experiences as a researcher in procedural content generation and generative design for video games. Earlier this year he published ‘Next Level’, a book designed to be an introductory text for people new to PCG in games, and provides a fun and accessible entry point for people who don’t have a background in computer science to understand what’s happening.

Tommy sits down with Mike for a right good natter about the process of bringing ‘Next Level’ to life. From the challenges of introducing complex subject matter to a general audience, deciding on what topics to cover, and why you can’t talk about Dwarf Fortress without also bringing up Caves of Cud.

Catch Tommy’s review of ‘Next Level’ on the AI and Games newsletter:
aiandgames.com/p/next-level-a-warm-and-encouraging

Chapters
[00:00] "We're all Stupid"
[00:55] Intro
[04:12] Kicking Off
[08:22] Origins of 'Next Level'
[14:06] Finding the Voice of the Book
[19:03] Ordering the Topics
[23:09] The Line Between Textbook and Pop Science
[25:35] 'Feeling Out' PCG
[29:14] Deciding on the Games
[32:57] Dwarf Fortress & Caves of Cud
[36:44] Sponsor Message: AWS
[37:52] Defining Worlds Through Generative Systems
[44:52] Generative AI vs Generative Design
[54:57] Next Level 2?
[01:03:49] Wrapping Up
[01:04:46] Credits

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