ChatGPT coded a game for me in seconds and I am simply astounded – and coders should be very worried

ChatGPT conscionable stunned me. Almost 2 years aft I first asked an early type of nan generative AI chatbot to thief maine codification a game, I returned to ChatGPT 4o pinch nan nonstop aforesaid prompt, and nan results blew maine away.

Ever since OpenAI's generative AI level arrived, group person been turning to it to grip tasks they'd alternatively not do or, successful immoderate cases, to effort things moreover they're not tin of. I tin write, truthful I usually don't inquire ChatGPT to constitute prose, and I'm an OK creator truthful I only usage generative image creation for entertainment. However, I americium not a programmer. I've done immoderate HTML, Javascript, and moreover BASIC coding successful nan past, but my skills are beyond rusty; they're calcified.

I wrote past twelvemonth astir asking ChatGPT to thief maine build a caller crippled called Tic-Tac-Go. It's for illustration Tic-Tac-Toe but connected steroids. I envisioned nan playing section to beryllium a 12x12 grid. Winning would return six "X" marks aliases six "O" marks successful a row.

Here's nan original prompt:

Things started disconnected good successful my first attempt, pinch ChatGPT providing CSS, JavaScript, HTML files, and a batch of explanations for almost each spot of code. However, astir of what it gave maine was incomplete because of a built-in characteristic limit (4096). I kept asking ChatGPT to supply nan remainder of nan code, but it kept losing way of what it already told me. I made my stock of mistakes but besides realized really ill-equipped ChatGPT 1.0 was to thief maine capable successful nan blanks. Ultimately, we ne'er built nan completed game, and aft hours of trying, I gave up.

Return of nan AI coder

In nan intervening 20 months, ChatGPT has made immense leaps successful capabilities. I precocious started utilizing ChatGPT search and person been impressed astatine really overmuch much effective it is than Google astatine getting maine useful answers. ChatGPT 4o suffers from few, if any, of nan limits I recovered successful nan first version. I began to wonderment what other I could do. Separately, an agency Slack speech mentioned really immoderate caller AI-powered distributed computing platforms, for illustration Oasis AI, were helping coders quickly build games. I didn't deliberation it would beryllium useful, but it reminded maine of my grounded ChatGPT crippled coding attempt. When I shared nan station pinch a coworker, he wrote, "Wonder whether it would beryllium immoderate easier now pinch immoderate of these caller AI tools."

It was a bully thought. Could ChatGPT 4o win wherever nan original ChatGPT and I failed?

Instead of polishing my punctual – and because I americium lazy – I simply copied and pasted nan supra punctual matter into ChatGPT 4o.

It didn't return maine agelong to recognize that this was not moreover adjacent to my first ChatGPT coding collaborator. If ChatGPT 1 had grade-school-level intelligence, ChatGPT 4o is college-level, astatine least.

ChatGPT 4o started by synthesizing my crippled thought into a much intelligent brief:

Creating a analyzable version of Tic-Tac-Toe, called "Tic-Tac-Go," connected a 12x12 grid, tin beryllium achieved pinch HTML and JavaScript. In this game, players return turns placing their markers ("X" aliases "O") to effort and create a statement of six markers successful a row, column, aliases diagonal. The expertise to artifact adjacent moves adds an other furniture of strategy.

It past quickly spit retired nan HTML and Javascript code, and not conscionable portion of it. I sewage everything from nan "html" astatine nan apical to nan "/html" astatine nan end. It looked complete. After nan code, ChatGPT dropped successful a four-point mentation of its activity and nan game's related features. Alongside HTML and Javascript, location was a "copy code" button. I copied nan codification and asked ChatGPT really I would trial it successful a Web browser, moreover though I beautiful overmuch knew really to do this, aliases astatine slightest I thought I did.

It recommended I unfastened a matter editor for illustration TextEdit connected nan Mac, paste nan code, and prevention it pinch an ".html" extension. I did this but erstwhile I loaded nan record successful Chrome and Safari, it was not nan game, conscionable a bunch of codification and a "Restart nan game" button.

I told ChatGPT this and asked if I needed to abstracted nan Javascript into a abstracted file. It told maine nary and reminded maine to cheque that nan record had nan correct hold and disable RichText. It besides gave maine a fewer different suggestions, for illustration utilizing developer devices to cheque that nan Javascript codification was working.

I had a different idea. I took a screenshot of nan surgery page and dropped it into ChatGPT, asking if it could analyse nan image. This multimodal usage was not imaginable successful nan first ChatGPT, but it turned retired to beryllium a crippled changer.

"It looks for illustration your record is displaying RTF (Rich Text Format) markup alternatively of HTML. This typically happens if nan record was saved arsenic an RTF archive alternatively than plain text," wrote ChatGPT and past explained why it was happening and really to hole it.

I repasted nan code, group TextEdit for PlainText, and resaved it arsenic an HTML file. Then, I opened nan record pinch Chrome.

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

It worked. The crippled was precisely arsenic I envisioned it, pinch 144 quiet boxes and a two-player strategy for marking "X's" and "O's"

I realized that personification looking astatine this grid would person nary thought really to proceed, truthful I asked ChatGPT if we could adhd rules beneath nan game. ChatGPT spit retired caller codification that included nan crippled rules.

In nan first chatGPT, erstwhile I asked it to redo immoderate of nan code, thing would invariably get mislaid successful nan process. Not this time, though. There was a level of efficiency, clarity, and callback that was missing 20 months ago.

Feeling bold and possibly a small spot for illustration I abruptly knew really to code, I asked for nan adjacent logical crippled update: nan expertise to play online. Sure, this was a web-based game, but arsenic it was designed, you could only play against personification sitting adjacent to you. I wanted online competition.

"To make this a multiplayer online game, you'll request to group up a server to negociate crippled authorities and subordinate interactions successful real-time. Here’s a high-level overview of nan steps required and immoderate codification examples to get you started..."

ChatGPT gave maine elaborate instructions and each nan basal codification for mounting up servers. It called for things for illustration Node.js and WebSockets, and arsenic I publication it, I felt nan h2o rising supra my ears; I was measurement retired of my depth. But not retired of ChatGPT's. It intelligibly knows what it's doing and really doesn't request my assistance to code. Yes, I came up pinch nan idea, but ChatGPT 4o did everything else.

We've travel a agelong measurement successful a short time, AI. The early for AI-assisted coding is very bright, but I'm not judge nan news is arsenic bully for quality programmers.

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