Dr. Matthew Stephenson

Dr. Matthew Stephenson is a Lecturer with the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University. His research focusses on applying Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science techniques to games. This includes designing AI to play, create and analyse games; as well as utilising games as a testbed for developing AI-based solutions to real-world problems.

Matthew currently serves as the Data for Decisions Lead within Flinders University’s Factory of the Future Transdisciplinary hub. As part of this role, he is exploring the combination of AI-powered scenario generation and real-time data analytics for smart digital twins.

Matthew is also a member of IRL CROSSING, an international research laboratory focussing on human-autonomous agent teaming, where he investigates the impacts of deceptive and adversarial behaviour on multi-agent systems.

He previously worked for the Digital Ludeme Project in Europe, which aims to improve our understanding of traditional games using modern AI techniques. This project can be summarised as a computational study of different games throughout recorded history, hoping to chart their historical evolution and explore their role in the development of human culture.

His PhD focussed on implementing various AI techniques for physics-based video games and simulations. This involved developing intelligent agents that can reason and interact within a physical environment, as well as generating content that satisfies the physical limitations of such environments.