Summary
OpenAI’s o3 model, supposedly the smartest AI tech created to date, is currently playing throughPokemon Redin an attempt to prove just how smart it is. However, after taking 80 hours to secure the original Pokemon game’s first two gym badges, all anyone has done so far is roast the model’s snail-paced attempts to become a Pokemon master.
OpenAI’s Twitter accountdirected those interested in the playthrough to Twitch when it began last week.Dexerto then reportedon AI’s progress, noting that, after 80 hours of gameplay, all the smarter version of ChatGPT had managed to do was beat Pokemon Red’s first two gym leaders, earning the Boulder Badge from Brock, and the Cascade Badge from Misty.
Just to rub salt in the wounds, OpenAI chose Bulbasaur as its partner Pokemon. Before you ridicule it for not choosing the best starter - it’s Charmander, by the way - the reason its Bulbasaur selection makes all this so much worse is because that’s the best Pokemon to have at your disposal for those first two gym battles. Brock and Misty’s Rock and Water-type Pokemon are both weak against Bulbasaur’s Grass-typing.
OpenAI Is Trying To Beat Pokemon Red
It’s Taking Its Sweet Time About It
If it’s all starting to feel a little bit like you’ve heard this before, that might be becausePokemon fans once gathered to collectively try and play through Pokemon Red using Twitch’s chat function. Comparisons to that have provided even more fuel for the ChatGPT roast as Twitch chat took just 50 hours to earn Red’s first two badges. Next time someone tries to tell you AI is better and smarter than people power, lead with that as your retort.
The AI isnow working its way around Team Rocket’s Hideoutin Celadon City, which those who have played the original Pokemon games will know, can be pretty tricky. The playthrough is a lot of watching nothing as the AI decides what to do next, but even more so right now as it tries not to step on the wrong arrow, propelling it around in a loop or back to somewhere it has already been. I’m getting Pokemon PTSD just thinking about it.
Hopefully, with theSwitch 2almost upon us,Nintendomight finally give us a way to play the original Pokemon games on modern hardware soon, and thus the chance to show up AI even more. It might take me longer than most, but even with Charmander as my partner, I can probably secure every gym badge in a lot less than 80 hours.
