OpenAI’s o3 model, which is reportedly the “smartest model to date” of AI, can play Pokémon Red — but it’s taken 80 hours to get two Gym Badges. Two. And it’s rightfully being roasted online.
The story was originally published by Dexerto, and the playthrough is being streamed on Twitch right now, but we’re a little bit amused that this “powerful” AI tool can only get past the first two Gyms in 80 hours.
What started did this program pick? Turns out, it’s a Bulbasaur — the best starter you can pick for the first two Gyms. Brock and Misty use Rock and Water-type Pokémon respectively, both of which are weak to Grass-types. Bulbasaur is a Grass-type.
It’s perhaps not fair of us to say something “isn’t very good” at the game when there are people and players of various skill levels out there. But, as many have pointed out, TwitchPlaysPokémon — a crowdsourced playthrough of the Pokémon games that relies on commands posted in Twitch’s chat — got two badges in under 50 hours.
Hundreds of humans are more coherent than AI? Shocking. And by 80 hours? TwitchPlaysPokémon had three badges and more accomplishments. There was even a fish who played Pokémon a while back, which is infinitely more impressive.
AI is a hot-button topic right now, with one of the biggest concerns being its threat to many a creative industry. There are reports of students using AI-based chatbots to write essays, journalists and artists losing their jobs to AI, voices being replicated with AI to create videos (without the original person’s permission), and its environmental impact, along with Google, X, and multiple tech companies employing it to an infuriating effect.
It’s become a frequent issue in the video game industry, too, with Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto saying last year that the company wants to move in a “different direction” to the trend. Phew.
Let us know your thoughts on this amusing story in the comments.
