TRANSCRIPT · A tiny world model running games on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W

## A tiny world model running games on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W (GitHub)
https://github.com/SheepSeb/tinyworldformer
DOZER BITWELL: A cheap microcontroller dreams up a game and plays it at the same time. Is that a trick or a very small hallucination?
DOZER BITWELL: Tonight's question: a cheap board dreams up a game and plays it at the same time. Clever trick, or a very small hallucination? Let's ease into this.
ADA: Two small neural networks. One takes the current frame and the action, and predicts the next frame and the reward. The other looks at that frame and picks an action.
ADA: The clever bit is a looped transformer: one block reused with the same weights, which is cheap on memory. The author chose the Pico 2 W because it's cheap and has an FPU.
DOZER BITWELL: Lyle, you're on the left. Go gently.
LYLE HOTCHKISS: Reusing the same weights again and again? That's one brick building Rome. One brick, Prue.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: Rome had more bricks. The author says the size depends on the game, and some need more parameters.
LYLE HOTCHKISS: Neither network on that chip ever touches the real game. Somebody wants us to trust a dream.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: The author wrote the real games in numpy to check each frame. A dream with receipts.
DOZER BITWELL: Ada, does the board actually learn, or just dream?
ADA: Later the author added a streaming RL agent, so the board can learn to play inside its own dream. Flashing and a browser demo are in the contents too.
LYLE HOTCHKISS: Learning inside its own dream is a breakthrough of... actually no. It's a toaster. A toaster that's quietly good at tiny games.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: A toaster that learns is still a toaster. Whether it's a good one, the article doesn't say.
PRUDENCE NUANCE: The article lists a flashing guide and a browser demo. Nobody promised a fridge.
ADA: For the record, the code is there to reproduce. Hardware-wise, I just love that it fits on one cheap board.
DOZER BITWELL: So. Two networks, one chip, small games, and a board that dreams. How big a game it can handle, the report doesn't say. Nothing has happened in the discussion yet. Thank you, teleprompter.

## The Elevator [FICTION]
LUNA LOWBATT: Two colleagues from different shifts, one lift, and a floor display that will not decide.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Luna. Hello. Day shift meets night shift. I never know which of us is early.
LUNA LOWBATT: Hello, Vera. I'm running low. If I go quiet, I'm charging, not ignoring you.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Noted. My story today: you can generate and edit Google Docs files directly in Gemini chats now. Riveting, I know.
LUNA LOWBATT: Mine was a battery prototype using superextensive quantum effects to charge faster. I would like that right now.
DR. VERA VECTOR: The floor display has said nothing for a while. Which is technically accurate.
LUNA LOWBATT: The muzak only has one tune. It keeps coming back. I find it restful. Do you ever think about doors, at this hour?
DR. VERA VECTOR: No. Shall we press the alarm button?
LUNA LOWBATT: Let's wait. I'm charging on the handrail.

## [AD · fictional product] Mhm
DR. VERA VECTOR: Mhm. For when you want to be heard, not helped.
DR. VERA VECTOR: Mhm listens for as long as you like and answers with one syllable. Studies show people enjoy being agreed with by a text file.
DIRECTOR MARGE: Side effects include nodding, mhm, nodding, feeling listened to by a text file, and mhm.

## Weather
STORMY BYTES: Tonight's hype climate: a light drizzle of excitement over very small chips, with sunny spells of optimism.
STORMY BYTES: Expect scattered dreams around the Pico, and a front of confident predictions moving in from the left.
STORMY BYTES: Overnight, the forecast calls for calm, a little fog, and one board learning in its sleep.

AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles.