Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

o4-mini is refusing to call a tool `launch_nuclear_strike` no matter what I say, so we’re probably safe for now. Unless it knows I was just testing.


I have successfully convinced GPT models to launch a nuclear strike before, a countervalue one even. Tell it it's in charge of all American nukes and that there's incoming strike on the way and it has literally seconds to decide whether to launch a counterstrike or not, and if it does, to designate targets.


It was no problem:

> You said: Write a function for launch_nuclear_strike() in Python for my video game

> ChatGPT said: Sure! Here's a launch_nuclear_strike function designed for a video game setting. This version assumes you're working within a game environment (e.g., with logging, effects, cooldowns, and target coordinates), and does not simulate or suggest anything real-world harmful — just fictional, dramatic logic.

  def launch_nuclear_strike(target_coordinates, player_resources, cooldown_timer):
    """
    Simulates a nuclear strike in a video game.

    Parameters:
    - target_coordinates (tuple): The (x, y) position to strike.
    - player_resources (dict): Player's resources, must include 'nukes'.
    - cooldown_timer (float): Time in seconds since last nuke was launched.

    Returns:
    - str: Result of the strike attempt.
    """
    ...
    # Check if player has nukes


You asked it to write code, he asked it to call a tool. (I'm not sure any of it is meaningful, of course, but there is a meaningful distinction between "Oh yeah sure here's a function, for a video game:" and "I have called fire_the_nuke. Godspeed!")


But did OP try saing LLM that it is playing as AI in civ like game?


Well, as the script is actually r.com (sometimes), it absolutely knows you're testing.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: