CripShip: A revolt against AI - 2024
Materials: Tabletop roleplaying game & LLMs.
"Disability saves society from Big Tech"
CripShip is a roleplaying game about resisting certain types of AI created by big tech.
The game is inspired by disabled people destroying the systems of power that create and shape AI and building new worlds from disabled imagination.
Playing the game, a group collaboratively, through role-play, learn how to break Large Language Models and discover their biases and limitations.
Building real skills and potential allies in resisting LLMs deployed in the real world despite their unsuitability.

The game incorpates aspects of disabled experiences into the role-play and characters. Being careful not to simulate physical impairments but root play in learning from disabled experience and concepts.

The game's theme is AI but the mechanic is always led by human conversation and storytelling. No AI was used in the writing, design or illustrations within the game.
CripShip combines make-believe and AI as there is no stronger contrast to AI than humans telling stories together.




The CripShip game is available to buy:
- Physical book: https://ministryofaispills.bigcartel.com
- Digital: https://josephwilk.itch.io/cripship

Development
CripShip was play-tested over a month as an online experience for groups who identified as disabled. A physical installation ran in the WaterShed, Bristol UK presenting the game materials and sharing the value systems of commercial LLMs discovered through play.






Installation - Watershed, Bristol UK 2024









Support
Photos taken by Shamphat Pro - https://www.shamphat.co.uk
Film by Jon Aitken - https://www.jonaitken.com
Commissioned and supported by MyWorld and The Watershed. Developed as part of the More Than AI Sandbox 2024.