Synthetic Reworldings Through Play

This chapter discusses the creation of virtual worlds by young people and the ways in which research into playful online world-making extends existing theories on virtual worlds. In thinking through Tony Fisher’s observations on worldlessness, this chapter demonstrates that online world-making, through video games like Minecraft and the performances of virtual livestreamers and influencers, has the potential for reworlding. Playful online world-making already has an impact on the political economy of the physical world through Web 3.0. The term synthetic applied performance is coined here to describe applied performances that are created in collaboration with AI. In a series of synthetic applied performance workshops facilitated online during the COVID-19 pandemic, tender moments of playfulness that emerged during the workshops are analyzed in the context of collaborations with artificial intelligence (AI). In these Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)-inspired workshops, participants engage in online world-making through play that begins with the creation of virtual avatars.