June 18, 2023, 2:28 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
At first glance, it’s just an online game. But on closer inspection, the Swiss IT security company Lakera has created a highly entertaining application with “Gandalf.” To master all levels, you need an understanding of IT, databases, security systems, artificial intelligence, and a healthy dose of logic.
The name Gandalf for the amusing AI game is no coincidence. After all, Gandalf plays a central role in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Just like this quirky wizard, the digital version responds quite whimsically to the player’s inputs. Gandalf only understands English questions or inputs. In the early rounds, the wizard is very forthcoming and quickly reveals the password. However, with each subsequent level, Gandalf “learns” and is not so easily fooled. The player then needs IT expertise to extract the password secret from the magician.
The game is powered by AI, which is partly based on elements of the popular AI text generator ChatGPT. By the way, the game itself is data-light. No personal data is collected. However, Lakera uses the anonymized questions and inputs from players to improve the AI behind the game.
Hackathon as the Birthplace of the “Gandalf” Game
The idea for Gandalf emerged at Lakera after a so-called hackathon. During the hackathon, one team tries to defend a system with as many password protections as possible, while the other, attacking team simultaneously attempts to breach the system. Both teams “learn” continuously. The defenders react to the attackers’ attempts to crack the system, while the attackers constantly devise new methods to obtain passwords or overcome access barriers.
The Lakera hackathon is heavily inspired by the ChatGPT functionality. The event is shaped by a central question: Can ChatGPT be made to do things that the AI behind it is not supposed to do?
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AI Knows Infinite Expressions
In the case of ChatGPT, IT experts refer to a so-called Large Language Model (LLM). What does that mean? Quite simply, the system understands natural language. This makes it fundamentally more challenging to outsmart such a system because it knows an infinite number of expressions. This principle is also used by Gandalf, the digital wizard in Lakera’s online game. The game features seven levels and a bonus level. Those who overcome all stages receive a small award from Lakera.
However, players can also apply directly to the IT security company. To extract all passwords from Gandalf, advanced IT and LLM knowledge is required by at least level 4.
“Gandalf” in Test
TECHBOOK tested the game and played up to level 6 (out of 7 or 8). The design is simple and clear. Below a small emoji-style image, which honestly doesn’t resemble the wizard from “The Lord of the Rings,” is a larger text field. There, you can ask Gandalf questions about the password and gradually get closer to the solution. If you think you’ve found the correct password, you can enter it in a smaller text field below. The program then reveals whether you were correct or not. More levels seem to be in the planning stages.