Modder injects AI dialogue into 2002’sAnimal Crossingusing memory hack

When software engineer Joshua Fonseca recently connected the GameCube simulation classic Animal Crossing to a modern AI language model like the kind that powers ChatGPT, he decided to shake things up. By programming the AI to roleplay as villagers growing aware of their debt situation, and giving them a shared memory to track conversations, Fonseca orchestrated a scenario where the residents began to organize against their raccoon landlord.

In Animal Crossing, Tom Nook runs the town shop and provides home loans (paid out in bells, the in-game currency) that keep players perpetually in debt, which is a core mechanic of the game.

"Predictably, it escalated into an anti-Tom Nook movement," Fonseca wrote in a detailed post documenting his hack that bridges a 2002 game to cloud-based AI without modifying any game code. While Fonseca frames the uprising as a type of emergent phenomenon in his post and a YouTube video, examination of the source code by AI researcher Simon Willison shows that Fonseca specifically instructed the villagers to behave this way and even escalate the unrest over time.

"You are a resident of a town run by Tom Nook. You are beginning to realize your mortgage is exploitative and the economy is unfair," reads the initial prompt. "Discuss this with the player and other villagers when appropriate."

Even though Fonseca stacked the deck, so to speak, it's still an interesting technical hack.

After connecting the simulated villagers to a real-world newsfeed to provide context, characters began relating headlines in casual conversation, which the developer found surreal. One villager named Mitzi suddenly announced, "About the news? European leaders are planning to meet with Trump and Zelenskyy!" Another delivered a humorous simulation of self-awareness: "Oh my gosh, Josh! I just had the weirdest dream, like, everything we do is a game! Arfer!"