Implementing

The integration of GenAI significantly enriched the simulation experience in several key aspects:

Content Generation

GenAI can be used to generate detailed and engaging scenarios, following two main approaches. In the first approach, the scenario adheres to a predefined sequence of events, requiring participants to react to an unfolding crisis as planned. Alternatively, scenarios can be designed with multiple potential pathways, where participants’ actions or inactions influence the emergence of new events. I prefer and used the latter approach, as it offers greater realism, albeit demanding more effort and oversight to manage effectively.

AI proved particularly useful in creating these multiple development paths by defining possible ways forward or incorporating student inputs, such as strategic documents, to determine the direction of events. During the interaction stage, GenAI can assisted by analysing the situation participants have created, offering advice on how to respond, or even determining whether events should escalate or deescalate based on actions taken during the exercise.

Genre Adaptivity and Perspective Shaping

GenAI enabled the rapid production of diverse texts following particular genres or styles. Events can be reported as media news, government press releases, diplomatic communiqués, or even interviews with specific experts. By using styles from real news agencies or government documents and referencing similar historical events, the AI tool enabled quick adjustments to produce a text fitting into an ongoing security crisis. This tailored approach not only created a more realistic vision of the situation but also taught participants about the security context in the region and decision-making under pressure, emphasising crisis management.

The AI tool crafted content with specific tonal biases or agendas, mimicking real-world information environments and propaganda techniques. AI also enabled quick changes in style and focus by providing clear prompts to present events from specific or varying perspectives. This approach not only enhances realism but also promotes critical thinking as participants learn to navigate and assess diverse perspectives in a crisis context.

Enriching the Simulation

GenAI created fictional characters, and their stories, providing consistent discourse or mimicking real-life characters’ speaking styles and expressions. AI can also produce text in various languages, which is particularly relevant for creating additional realism in the simulation. Although I have not used this element yet, I plan to implement it next year. Governments, for instance, must decide whether statements are intended for an international audience or domestic consumption. This capability not only enhances the simulation’s nuanced realism but also teaches participants to navigate and assess different linguistic and cultural contexts in crisis scenarios.

Analysis of the Interaction

With the help of AI, I reviewed students’ forum posts and reactions, identifying key decision-making patterns or biases. It facilitated the summarisation of the existing course of actions participants took and helped define specific behavioural patterns. AI also enabled the quick identification of mismatches in the parties’ intentions, thereby providing valuable insights for creating additional actions or adjustments to enhance the scenario’s realism and complexity.