Trying out an AI's preferred strategy in real life

When AI is asked to get to the finish line, it tends to build a very tall robot that gets there by falling over.
I copied that strategy and almost broke @SimoneGiertz's robot workshop. (Sorry!)https://t.co/5jf8HaFfhH pic.twitter.com/8Gua5PNGSd

— Janelle Shane (@JanelleCShane) April 26, 2019

This is the robot-building stage at which it became obvious what our strategy was going to be, and @SimoneGiertz came by to say "Okay, so, um, although the rules didn't *technically* specify..."
She decided to let us compete.
Shown: @dfromm, me, Simone, and the "Lean Machine"
2/ pic.twitter.com/gRgAhykzSQ

— Janelle Shane (@JanelleCShane) April 28, 2019

Here are the robots at the starting line.
When they said go, the robots all started twitching, flailing, and slowly rotating.
Except for ours.
In the first half-second of the race it slammed its face toward the finish line
... and missed it by an inch.
3/ pic.twitter.com/6tIsciTP2n

— Janelle Shane (@JanelleCShane) April 28, 2019