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Fruit fly brain simulation used to play Balatro

A fan claims they've used Google's detailed model of a fruit fly's nervous system—just released two weeks ago—to train it with reinforcement learning to play the card video game Balatro. Right now, the virtual fly is winning about 20% of matches, according to the enthusiast. It's an unusual application for Google's painstaking neural map.

Why it mattersThis is an early, creative use of a complex brain simulation intended for science. It shows how quickly hobbyists repurpose cutting-edge research for playful, public experiments.

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New York TimesHeadline onlyGoogle’s Simulated Fruit Fly Brain Did Not Write This Article10:00 PMTom's HardwareBalatro fan claims they trained Google fruit fly brain simulation to beat the game — reinforcement learning currently has the model at 20% success rate3:26 PM

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