Ethical Considerations for Player Modeling

In this paper we discuss some of the ethical challenges that may arise from player modeling. Player modeling is used in modern games e.g. to enable various kinds of game play, to optimize games for specific players, and to maximize the monetization of games. In this paper, we propose that apply- ing player modeling implies serious ethical questions, since it impacts how players spend their leisure time and money, affects their social relations, and changes computer games as ethical artifacts. We source categories of ethical issues in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) from work on AI ethics and using these we provide several specific examples of ethical issues in player modeling. Building from the exam- ples, we suggest establishing a framework for understanding ethical issues in player modeling and we propose a number of methodological approaches to address the identified challenges.