Asteroids showed me what’s next: I watched AI recreate a childhood video game in 5 seconds for agents
A childhood game returns
At Tuesday’s Fireworks AI conference in San Francisco, the game Asteroids brought back memories for the reporter. Rob Ferguson, the company’s vice president of technology and strategy, played it during a demonstration.
The reporter recalled playing Asteroids on an Oric-1 computer. Their father chose it because it cost less than a Commodore 64, and loading the game from a cassette player took about 10 minutes.
A rapid AI demonstration
In Ferguson’s demo, the game appeared in five seconds. That left him able to ask the AI to make changes right away, rather than waiting through a long setup.
Less waiting for agents
Working with AI agents can involve waiting for a task to finish and occasionally prompting the system to continue. The article describes that practice as “botsitting,” a frustrating part of using agents.
The fast Asteroids demo suggested a different rhythm: an agent could produce a result quickly enough for a person to refine it immediately. The demonstration focused on speed and the ability to build on an initial result.
Key points
- Rob Ferguson demonstrated an AI recreation of Asteroids at a Fireworks AI conference in San Francisco.
- The game appeared in five seconds, allowing immediate requests for changes.
- The updates included a 3-D version and colorful laser weapons.
- The demo contrasted with both cassette-era loading times and waiting for AI agents.