Recently, Betty, a Wisconsin art-school student who works at a local escape room, monitored a group of 20-somethings as they made their way through a spy-themed experience. About three-quarters of the way in, the players were stumped. They stood in front of a painting, magnet in hand. To solve the final puzzle and escape, they had to look behind the painting, where they’d find a diagram that would lead them to a nearby locker, which they could unlock using the magnet. One of the players “pulled out her phone,” Betty recalls, “and was like, ‘I’m just gonna ask ChatGPT how to do this.’”

The rest of the team was unfazed. Are you serious? Betty thought. “It’s over $100 for a group that big. So you’re spending a lot of money to go to this place where the entire point of going there is to try

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