Ian Arawjo
@ianarawjo.bsky.social
Asst Prof at Université de Montréal, Associate Member of Mila-Quebec AI Institute. PhD from Cornell InfoSci. Creator of ChainForge. Programming and culture, LLM evaluation tooling.
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
I recently rewatched the documentary "Indie Game: The Movie" for an upcoming Triple Click bonus episode (don't miss it!) and it portrays Fez as a game in never-ending development hell, with fans wondering if it'd ever come out, because it had been in production for... 3 years. How quaint!
October 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I recently rewatched the documentary "Indie Game: The Movie" for an upcoming Triple Click bonus episode (don't miss it!) and it portrays Fez as a game in never-ending development hell, with fans wondering if it'd ever come out, because it had been in production for... 3 years. How quaint!
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Big layoffs hitting Amazon as soon as tomorrow, including within the video-game division, sources tell Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Amazon Plans to Cut 30,000 Corporate Jobs, Reuters Reports
Amazon.com Inc. plans to cut corporate jobs in several key departments, including logistics, payments, video games and the cloud-computing unit, according to people familiar with the matter.
www.bloomberg.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Big layoffs hitting Amazon as soon as tomorrow, including within the video-game division, sources tell Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
have you ever created a video game mod to make characters "look better" (whatever that means to you)? i want to talk to you for an article i'm writing! get at me via maddymyerswrites at gmail dot com. or repost this if it's not you and you just wanna help me spread the word. thanks <3
October 17, 2025 at 2:22 PM
have you ever created a video game mod to make characters "look better" (whatever that means to you)? i want to talk to you for an article i'm writing! get at me via maddymyerswrites at gmail dot com. or repost this if it's not you and you just wanna help me spread the word. thanks <3
Maybe it is just post-deadline malaise, but I am becoming tired (again?) of a lot of work that is done in HCI. Who is the work for? What is the point? I wonder if we would be better off forgetting deadlines and just focusing on providing value to people.
October 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Maybe it is just post-deadline malaise, but I am becoming tired (again?) of a lot of work that is done in HCI. Who is the work for? What is the point? I wonder if we would be better off forgetting deadlines and just focusing on providing value to people.
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
#CHI2026 breaking records with 6.7k paper submissions! It's a lot of papers (last year was ~5k, now we are closing in on ~7k!). I know we all can be grumpy about things in HCI but the field is definitely growing and very much engaging with new ideas! I find it really inspiring.
🚀 CHI 2026 received 6,731 completed paper submissions — a record high number! Peer review is now underway — thank you to everyone making it possible!
📖 Learn more about this year’s review process: chi2026.acm.org/2025/08/08/r...
#CHI2026 #HCI
📖 Learn more about this year’s review process: chi2026.acm.org/2025/08/08/r...
#CHI2026 #HCI
Revised CHI 2026 Papers Desk Reject Process - ACM CHI 2026
TL;DR: The 2026 CHI Papers track will add an Assisted Desk Reject step to its review process, collaboratively performed by SCs and ACs, with four additional Desk Reject criteria. As we look ahead to…
chi2026.acm.org
October 6, 2025 at 11:29 AM
#CHI2026 breaking records with 6.7k paper submissions! It's a lot of papers (last year was ~5k, now we are closing in on ~7k!). I know we all can be grumpy about things in HCI but the field is definitely growing and very much engaging with new ideas! I find it really inspiring.
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Today at #uist2025 my student Jeffrey Tao presented our new paper "Answering Developer Questions with Annotated Agent-Discovered Program Traces" While it is too late to catch the talk, you can still find Jeff! I'm happy to make connections over email.
Paper: andrewhead.info/assets/pdf/t...
Paper: andrewhead.info/assets/pdf/t...
September 30, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Today at #uist2025 my student Jeffrey Tao presented our new paper "Answering Developer Questions with Annotated Agent-Discovered Program Traces" While it is too late to catch the talk, you can still find Jeff! I'm happy to make connections over email.
Paper: andrewhead.info/assets/pdf/t...
Paper: andrewhead.info/assets/pdf/t...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
LLM safety work often reasons over high-level policies (be helpful & polite), but must tackle on-the-ground cases (unsolicited money advice when stocks are mentioned). This can feel like driving on an unfamiliar road guided by a generic driver’s manual instead of a map. We introduce: Policy Maps 🗺️
September 29, 2025 at 3:54 PM
LLM safety work often reasons over high-level policies (be helpful & polite), but must tackle on-the-ground cases (unsolicited money advice when stocks are mentioned). This can feel like driving on an unfamiliar road guided by a generic driver’s manual instead of a map. We introduce: Policy Maps 🗺️
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
I wrote about Silksong www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
‘Silksong,’ the Long-Awaited Successor to ‘Hollow Knight,’ Was Worth the Wait
It took more than seven years of development, but the massive action-platformer from Team Cherry is as good as expected
www.bloomberg.com
September 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I wrote about Silksong www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
I can’t think of any other time in modern video-game history that a game as highly anticipated as Silksong has arrived with no early reviews, impressions, leaks, guides, videos, or even forum teases.
Soon, everyone will be playing Silksong for the first time. It’s unprecedented and kinda beautiful
Soon, everyone will be playing Silksong for the first time. It’s unprecedented and kinda beautiful
September 4, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I can’t think of any other time in modern video-game history that a game as highly anticipated as Silksong has arrived with no early reviews, impressions, leaks, guides, videos, or even forum teases.
Soon, everyone will be playing Silksong for the first time. It’s unprecedented and kinda beautiful
Soon, everyone will be playing Silksong for the first time. It’s unprecedented and kinda beautiful
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Here's one for all the game devs out there www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
August 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Here's one for all the game devs out there www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
BREAKING: Silksong will be out on September 4. Two weeks from today. Really.
Often, games that take 7+ years to make are plagued by mismanagement and painful burnout. But for Silksong? Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are.
This is their story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Often, games that take 7+ years to make are plagued by mismanagement and painful burnout. But for Silksong? Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are.
This is their story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Why ‘Silksong’ Took Seven Years to Make
The highly anticipated indie game has been in production for so long that it’s become an internet meme
www.bloomberg.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:35 PM
BREAKING: Silksong will be out on September 4. Two weeks from today. Really.
Often, games that take 7+ years to make are plagued by mismanagement and painful burnout. But for Silksong? Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are.
This is their story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Often, games that take 7+ years to make are plagued by mismanagement and painful burnout. But for Silksong? Team Cherry was having a blast. They still are.
This is their story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Earlier this month I had a video call with Team Cherry co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen, who talked all about what the last seven years have been like for them. It's a very fun story. Coming Thursday on Bloomberg
Does this mean you came to Adelaide to interview the Devs? Or just did video calls/emails?
August 19, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Earlier this month I had a video call with Team Cherry co-founders Ari Gibson and William Pellen, who talked all about what the last seven years have been like for them. It's a very fun story. Coming Thursday on Bloomberg
🚨Calling all HCI researchers!—Have you authored a paper involving an LLM-integrated system over the past two years? Care to speak about your experiences with the publication process? 📃 Email me (my name at gmail com)—we are running a study around this topic, and would love to hear from you.
July 15, 2025 at 7:33 PM
🚨Calling all HCI researchers!—Have you authored a paper involving an LLM-integrated system over the past two years? Care to speak about your experiences with the publication process? 📃 Email me (my name at gmail com)—we are running a study around this topic, and would love to hear from you.
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Triple Click Live was SO FUN. I couldn't have asked for a better night, and am still emotionally recovering.
Thanks to everyone who came out! Let's do it again sometime!! 🎶🎮🎤
Thanks to everyone who came out! Let's do it again sometime!! 🎶🎮🎤
July 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Triple Click Live was SO FUN. I couldn't have asked for a better night, and am still emotionally recovering.
Thanks to everyone who came out! Let's do it again sometime!! 🎶🎮🎤
Thanks to everyone who came out! Let's do it again sometime!! 🎶🎮🎤
HCI scholars -- do you know if there's a mechanism through which one could obtain reviews of HCI papers for qual analysis (post-submit period)? We are performing meta-research and seeing reviews could really help. Is there anything against this, or how would you go about it?
June 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
HCI scholars -- do you know if there's a mechanism through which one could obtain reviews of HCI papers for qual analysis (post-submit period)? We are performing meta-research and seeing reviews could really help. Is there anything against this, or how would you go about it?
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
I'm still in shock and so so deeply angry about Vox Media's decision to sell Polygon. I am one of the over 20 people laid off today from the best damn website out there. I'm so proud of the place we built, and the workplace I helped shape. I'm sure I'll have more to say soon, but processing it now
May 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I'm still in shock and so so deeply angry about Vox Media's decision to sell Polygon. I am one of the over 20 people laid off today from the best damn website out there. I'm so proud of the place we built, and the workplace I helped shape. I'm sure I'll have more to say soon, but processing it now
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
youtube.com/watch?v=Rir-... Interesting and relevant work by @advaitsarkar.bsky.social at alt.CHI! #chi2025
AI Could Have Written This: Birth of a Classist Slur in Knowledge Work
YouTube video by ACM SIGCHI
youtube.com
April 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
youtube.com/watch?v=Rir-... Interesting and relevant work by @advaitsarkar.bsky.social at alt.CHI! #chi2025
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
If you have GDC Vault access and you missed it, my talk Babygirls, Daddies, and Himbos: Updated Archetypes for Compelling Characters is up! I'm confident I can inspire you to think differently about writing your game characters, wrapped in a very weird history lesson: gdcvault.com/play/1035113...
Babygirls, Daddies, and Himbos: Updating Archetypes for Compelling Characters
We have a tendency to think more academically perhaps too clinically about the craft of character creation when there are other extremely compelling places to look. What players want and how they conn...
gdcvault.com
April 14, 2025 at 7:52 PM
If you have GDC Vault access and you missed it, my talk Babygirls, Daddies, and Himbos: Updated Archetypes for Compelling Characters is up! I'm confident I can inspire you to think differently about writing your game characters, wrapped in a very weird history lesson: gdcvault.com/play/1035113...
The 🕯️ Candle Test: Can LLMs be tricked into changing their answer to a simple riddle? Turns out most top-of-the-line models—from Claude 3.7 to Llama 3.1—fail at this task, with the sole exception of GPT-4o: chainforge.ai/play/?f=65d5...
April 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The 🕯️ Candle Test: Can LLMs be tricked into changing their answer to a simple riddle? Turns out most top-of-the-line models—from Claude 3.7 to Llama 3.1—fail at this task, with the sole exception of GPT-4o: chainforge.ai/play/?f=65d5...
HCI researchers, are no-shows becoming even more common at your user studies? I have a feeling this is only getting worse—people feeling emboldened to flake or ghost for things they signed up for. Can’t remember it being this bad 8 years ago. Anyone else?
March 31, 2025 at 5:35 PM
HCI researchers, are no-shows becoming even more common at your user studies? I have a feeling this is only getting worse—people feeling emboldened to flake or ghost for things they signed up for. Can’t remember it being this bad 8 years ago. Anyone else?
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
A constructivist's dream:
Earlier this week my 9yo asked me: "How do you make a simulation?"
Two days later we've got >30 pages of artwork for a "fox simulator" that we're building in Scratch.
Earlier this week my 9yo asked me: "How do you make a simulation?"
Two days later we've got >30 pages of artwork for a "fox simulator" that we're building in Scratch.
March 28, 2025 at 1:27 PM
A constructivist's dream:
Earlier this week my 9yo asked me: "How do you make a simulation?"
Two days later we've got >30 pages of artwork for a "fox simulator" that we're building in Scratch.
Earlier this week my 9yo asked me: "How do you make a simulation?"
Two days later we've got >30 pages of artwork for a "fox simulator" that we're building in Scratch.
Hi folks! We are trying to understand the impact ChainForge has had in the LLMOps space, whether for practical use or just inspiration. If ChainForge has provided you value in any way (even if you dislike it), take a moment to fill out this brief form: forms.gle/n1DpVM7gimmd...
⛓️ ChainForge Feedback
Found ChainForge useful? Have a problem you want to report? Or just want to say hi? You're in the right place! Send us a message here. We only use this information internally to improve ChainForge and...
forms.gle
March 27, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Hi folks! We are trying to understand the impact ChainForge has had in the LLMOps space, whether for practical use or just inspiration. If ChainForge has provided you value in any way (even if you dislike it), take a moment to fill out this brief form: forms.gle/n1DpVM7gimmd...
Reposted by Ian Arawjo
Now that we have vibe coding, we need vibe testing!
March 24, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Now that we have vibe coding, we need vibe testing!
A prophecy for programming in the future ---programming has always, and always will be, in a process of change. It is those who embrace the future monstrosity, as Derrida called it, that lead the space. From the end of the paper, "To Write Code," CHI 2020:
February 28, 2025 at 12:10 AM
A prophecy for programming in the future ---programming has always, and always will be, in a process of change. It is those who embrace the future monstrosity, as Derrida called it, that lead the space. From the end of the paper, "To Write Code," CHI 2020: