ChatGPT destroyed by Atari 2600 chess game - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2025, 05:48:31 pm
content: ChatGPT Just Got 'Absolutely Wrecked' at Chess, Losing to a 1970s-Era Atari 2600 -https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/chatgpt-just-got-absolutely-wrecked-at-chess-losing-to-a-1970s-era-atari-2600/The 1979 Video Chess game was run in a software emulator.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2025, 06:18:11 pm
content: This isn't surprising - we repeatedly see how LLMs fail even with simple algorithmic things. For example, simple math, say something like 2+3 was a huge problem for ChatGPT still just a year ago - from the fact it has got better I would say they have programmed some kind of "bypasses" for things like math (basically, integrate existing symbolic equation solvers, instead of using the LLM to generate the numeric results character-by-character). If they deemed chess important, they would then integrate classic chess solver algorithms into it, basically letting the LLM to decide when to use the solver back-end and feed data between the algorithm and user. And for this kind of "informal language <-> formal notation" conversion, LLM is great (although very energy-consuming).And this is exactly what is holding the dreams of a truly intelligent system back. With suitable test cases, it looks like we are close - but then, some other simple tests of primitive intelligence fail miserably.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 02:57:33 am
content: C’mon, that was a low hanging fruit, in the most negative sense. Almost an insult to a thinking person!Do we, people with at least some basic technical literacy, need to deal with billion dollar companies’ tug of war?What is next on the platter? “Breaking news: an LLM failed in a dance competition”?

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 03:12:17 am
content: Quote from: golden_labels on June 15, 2025, 02:57:33 am"Low-hanging fruit"?It was an Atari chess game for chrissakes. Not Big Blue.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 04:50:25 am
content: Analog Kid, reporting on this and portraying as an LLM failure is a low hanging fruit for CNET. Not the chess game.It’s normal and expected that a language model fails in that game. It would be worth reporting, if it had an opposite result.(1)But what is the point in stating the obvious?Of course there is a reason to do so for CNET. After all they’re on war with OpenAI, they’re in position to shape public opinions, and they’ll use that power for their advantage. But dowe, hereneed to relay that?(1)Not for LLM’s sake, but because that would point to something very interesting about the game engine itself.

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 06:10:11 am
content: QuoteThis result is not obvious to the general public.LLM products are being marketed as intelligence that will or are replacing people's jobs.LLM products are being compared to the intelligence of people.Billions of dollars are going into misrepresenting this technology.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 06:22:15 pm
content: Indeed, and not just to the "general public". I see a surprisingly large number of well-educated people falling into this trap.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 06:43:40 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on June 15, 2025, 04:50:25 amIt may be normal and expected for you and me, but for general public, and probably 95% of ChatGPT users, it is far from obvious. Only a handful of people even know what "LLM" means. Normal people are talking about AI, artificialintelligence; even the company name is OpenAI, not OpenLLM. It is very valuable journalism to bring the large masses back to realism every now and then.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 08:56:08 pm
content: Quote from: Whales on June 15, 2025, 06:10:11 amQuote from: SiliconWizard on June 15, 2025, 06:22:15 pmQuote from: Siwastaja on June 15, 2025, 06:43:40 pmThe educational value did cross my mind. But the article fails to provide any insight or explanation. So I still stick to my first feeling: that it’s pointless to re-post shots companies fire at each other. Let moguls just slap each other as much as they wish.