For one of his upcoming projects, [Matthew] needed to get his hands on the background images of the NES classic Super Mario ... to create the Python script that will render the game background ...

session. This included identifying frames where the main character Mario “runs” or “jumps.” The model was then trained to generate copycat images of the Nintendo game based on input from ...

The AI then generated inputs in the form of Python code to control Mario. Still, Hao says that the game forced each model to "learn" to plan complex maneuvers and develop gameplay strategies.