If you've been around for a minute, you may remember Twitch Plays Pokemon, a social experiment turned genuine phenomenon that tasked thousands of people with collectively beating a single game of Pokemon Red. The project spawned dozens of successors and even got a nod from the Pokemon Company themselves – and the latest take on the idea is attracting a fanbase all its own.
Meet Claude, the worst gamer in the world… which may have something to do with the fact that he's an AI. Claude is a public AI model that some anonymous sadist has forced to play Pokemon Red with no training and no context, whose Twitch stream has nonetheless attracted thousands of viewers drawn to his complete ineptitude.
Adding to it is the fact that Claude explains the logic behind every single button press, giving him an air of unassailable confidence despite failing to game his way out of a paper bag. At the current moment, for instance, he's stuck going in circles in Cerulean City, either unwilling or unable to realize that he has to get onto the S.S. Anne a whole city over to progress. Not that he seems too bothered by this. There's almost something endearing about the way he bumbles around with all the self-assuredness in the world, even if it means that he likely won't beat the game until the Switch 3 is out. At least he's fun to watch!
Previously:
• Pokémon Go narrated by David Attenborough: 'It is, of course, a bird.'
• Honda made a Pokemon motorcycle
• Why do Pokemon avoid black neighborhoods?
