The video game industry plays an essential role in the entertainment sphere of our society. However, from Monopoly to Flight Simulators, serious games have also been appealing tools for learning a new language, conveying values, or training skills. Furthermore, the resurgence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science in the last decade has created a unique opportunity since the amount of data collected through a game is immense, as is the amount of data needed to feed such AI algorithms. This paper aims to identify relevant research lines using Serious Games as a novel research tool, especially in Computational Social Sciences. To contextualize, we also conduct a (non-systematic) literature review of this field. We conclude that the synergy between games and data can foster the use of AI for good and open up new strategies to empower humanity and support social research with novel computational tools. We also discuss the challenges and new opportunities that arise from aspiring to such lofty goals.

翻译：电子游戏产业在我们社会的娱乐领域中扮演着至关重要的角色。然而，从《大富翁》到飞行模拟器，严肃游戏也已成为学习新语言、传递价值观或训练技能的有吸引力的工具。此外，过去十年间人工智能（AI）和数据科学的复兴创造了一个独特的机遇，因为通过游戏收集的数据量是巨大的，而训练此类AI算法所需的数据量也同样庞大。本文旨在识别将严肃游戏作为一种新颖研究工具的相关研究方向，尤其是在计算社会科学领域。为提供背景，我们对该领域进行了（非系统性）文献综述。我们得出结论，游戏与数据之间的协同作用可促进AI向善的应用，并开辟赋能人类、以新型计算工具支持社会研究的新策略。我们还讨论了在追求如此宏大目标的过程中所面临的挑战与新机遇。