A chimpanzee defeats the boss of this important video game: is the monkey the equal of man?

Gaming News A chimpanzee defeats the boss of this important video game: is the monkey the equal of man?

And Bonobo has just managed to defeat the final boss of Minecraft ! A feat accomplished as part of a research institute, Ape Initiativeand streamed from the ChrisDaCow channel on YouTube.

The bonobo that defeated a dragon

On January 13, 2024, the world witnessed an unprecedented video game achievement: Kanzi, a 43-year-old bonobo monkey living in captivity in the US, has managed to complete the video game Minecraft. After six months of training, documented in two videos posted on ChrisDaCow’s YouTube channel as part of research by the Ape Initiative organizationKanzi triumphed over the formidable Ender Dragon, the “final” boss of the game (although other bosses exist that are much more difficult to defeat, the Ender Dragon is the “end” of the game, as it displays the credits as soon as it appears was defeated). Kanzi’s learning is not innate, however Thanks to the food rewards distributed for each successful action In the game, the monkey has developed impressive skills. Actions like Breaking dice, eating to heal, and shooting crossbow arrows have been mastered from Kanzi with simple touch controls. Internet users Reddit were very impressed, some even realized that Kanzi was already stronger than them in Minecraft!

Six months of learning and Kanzi manages to do MLG

Learning Kanzi on Minecraft was a fascinating and methodical process. In a first video published in July 2023, Kanzi learned the game, guided by ChrisDaCow and his team, both in and out of the game. To encourage the monkey to make progress, it was given food rewards for each successful action. The footage in the video shows Kanzi touching the screen to move forward, break cubes, etc. Kanzi uses makes prepared hand signals and points to certain symbols on a wall to indicate to the people around him that he wants to play Minecraft. As soon as you look at the touchscreen, it is Press in the center to move forward and on the sides to rotate the camera. On the other hand, he is guided by ChrisDaCow in the game, but carries out the actions alone. He also has specific buttons that automate actionsit even happens Buy a “MLG Water Bucket”Save yourself from falling by placing a bucket of water under your feet at the last moment!

Despite several failures Kanzi continued for six months before managing to defeat the final boss. It was accompanied by Teco, another monkey, for his part less trained. The end result is a remarkable demonstration of the a primate’s ability to learn and excel in a complex video game. The comparison with other achievements of animals, such as that of a Dog named Peanut Butter who managed to complete a round of the game Gyromite (a NES game from 1985) recently remind us that these “exploits” are anything but anecdotal.

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Kanzi is not just any bonobo

Kanzi, born in captivity at the San Diego Zoo in 1980is a bonobo with the gift exceptional abilities, particularly in language and human understanding. Under the supervision of Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh at Georgia State University, Kanzi learned to communicate using symbols on a keyboard, developing an understanding of over 3,000 words spoken. In addition to his linguistic talents Kanzi is an artist whose paintings are sold to benefit monkey conservation. His learning of symbols is different from that of other bonobos and shows a spontaneous ability to understand up to the creation of a “protogram”. The Ape Initiative Project, Research center dedicated to the study and conservation of bonobos, allowed Kanzi to engage in enriching activities, such as playing Minecraft. It is important, Emphasize that Kanzi will not be forced to play and especially will not be considered a pet. The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness of this Protecting bonobos, an endangered species, and at the same time offer these animals stimulating activities for their well-being. Furthermore, Doctor Jared Taglialatela explains that Not only does Kanzi enjoy playing Minecraft, he enjoys it even more when people are watching him. According to the doctor, this would show that this is the case above all, a way for the bonobo to socializejust like it is the case with many people who play with friends.

Minecraft is now available on all platforms.