My 2.5 year old laptop can write Space Invaders in JavaScript now (GLM-4.5 Air) (simonwillison.net)

Article summary

The author tested the GLM-4.5 Air model on their 2.5-year-old laptop, which has 64GB of RAM, and found that it can generate code, including a functional Space Invaders game in HTML and JavaScript. The model was able to produce the code without any edits needed. The author notes that this is impressive given the laptop's age and the model's capabilities. The model used around 48GB of RAM at peak, leaving limited resources for other tasks.

Main themes

• AI coding capabilities
• Language models
• Laptop hardware
• Code generation
• Benchmarking

What commenters say

• The model's ability to generate code is likely due to its training data including many examples of similar code, rather than any true understanding or creativity.
• The use of benchmarks like the pelican on a bicycle SVG is becoming less effective as models are trained on these specific examples and can reproduce them easily.
• Some argue that AI models are not truly creative and can only remix and rewrite existing knowledge, while others believe they can produce novel solutions to new problems.
• The line between human and AI capabilities is becoming increasingly blurred, with some arguing that humans are not as inherently creative or capable as they seem, and that AI can explore and learn in similar ways.
• The fact that a 2.5-year-old laptop can run such a powerful model is a testament to the rapid progress in AI research and the decreasing requirements for running these models.
• There is a concern that the increasing ability of AI models to generate high-quality code and content could lead to a loss of value for human creativity and original work.