ChatGPT predicts fights between animal species
256 fearsome animals fought for their lives in a simulation that took the size, strength, and IQ of the animal into account.
The circuses of Ancient Rome saw some bizarre animal battles: rhino versus hippo, crocodile versus bear, as well as human gladiators against crocodiles, elephants and, in one case, an ostrich. Happily modern science can stage similar clashes in the animal kingdom without requiring a drop of blood to be spilt.
US researchers running the ‘Animal Matchup’ experiment have simulated the most ferocious animals from dry land, sea, and air, feeding ChatGPT information about the size, weight, strength, speed and intelligence of 256 animal challengers.
Each animal was then matched with another, with the winner of each fight decided by 11 simulated duels.
The simulations suggest that a hippo would beat a great white shark, and could even take down a polar bear.
The ultimate champion of the animal kingdom, however, was the African elephant, which won the ‘tournament’ after defeating the capybara, rhesus macaque, African rock python, Malayan tiger, cassowary, colossal squid, saltwater crocodile, and finally the Siberian tiger.
The African elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal on the planet, with a shoulder height of up to 4 metres and a body weight of up to 10 tonnes.
“The results are consistent with our understanding of the impressive characteristics of the African elephant,” says Arjun Dheer, the wildlife biologist who headed the experiment.“Its huge size, combined with its strength and intelligence, has long placed it at the top of the animal kingdom.”
Second place went to the Siberian tiger, currently threatened by extinction; it became runner-up after beating a leopard, an albatross, the Floreana giant tortoise, and others.
The experiment suggests that strength is not paramount, but that animal intelligence is often an advantage. This was the case when the cobra defeated several larger mammals.
The results should of course be taken with a dose of salt – these are ChatGPT simulations, and many of the animals will never meet, simply because they inhabit very different parts of the world.
“It is very difficult to know how some animals would fare against others,” says Arhjun Dheer. “This is, after all, a qualified experiment in which artificial intelligence makes educated guesses about how the battles would play out.”