Pokemon Go players are actually training a giant AI model

In 2016, Pokemon Go was about as wholesome as video games got, as it largely involved walking around your neighborhood and meeting up with strangers. In 2024, nothing is allowed to be wholesome, apparently.

Based on a blog post by developer Niantic as well as news reports from the likes of 404 Media and Garbage Day, it is now known that Pokemon Go players, whether they knew it or not, have been helping to train a large geospatial artificial intelligence. Tied into something called the Visual Positioning System (or VPS), Niantic's blog post said the idea is to help AI learn about complex three dimensional spaces, in a way that can be used for future augmented reality or even robotic applications.

The technical details may fly over the head of many who read Niantic's blog post, but the easiest way to think of it is that certain player actions in Pokemon Go have been training this geospatial AI in the same way that written internet content trains things like ChatGPT. In particular, a feature called "Pokemon Playgrounds" that allows users to pin a Pokemon to a real-world location that they will persistently stay in for other players to see is apparently tied into these efforts.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

While Niantic may be telling the truth about the potential future applications of this technology, it's also worth remembering that AI data can be used for nefarious means, too. As OSINT analyst Elise Thomas pointed out, there's a decent likelihood that this technology also enters military use at some point.

Imagine telling yourself all of this back in 2016.