MENACE: the pile of matchboxes which can learn
Stand-up Maths2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2018–2026
explainer · general · evergreen · 2018–2026 on HN
Matt Parker of Stand-up Maths demonstrates MENACE, Donald Michie's 1961 machine made of matchboxes that learns to play noughts and crosses through reinforcement. He builds and trains a physical version.
HN cites it as a fun, tangible way to teach machine learning, including to kids.
Up next
16 mo on HNThe spelled-out intro to neural networks and backpropagation: building micrograd
Andrej Karpathy
17 HN recommender · 2022–2025
14 mo on HNBut what is a neural network? | Deep learning chapter 1
3Blue1Brown
16 HN recommender · 2017–2025
10 mo on HNAlphaGo - The Movie | Full award-winning documentary
Google DeepMind
10 HN recommender · 2020–2025
10 mo on HNTransformers, the tech behind LLMs | Deep Learning Chapter 5
3Blue1Brown
13 HN recommender · 2024–2026
10 mo on HNUSENIX Security '18-Q: Why Do Keynote Speakers Keep Suggesting That Improving Security Is Possible?
USENIX
10 HN recommender · 2018–2026
11 mo on HNLecture 1 | Machine Learning (Stanford)
Stanford
11 HN recommender · 2008–2020
10 mo on HNMarI/O - Machine Learning for Video Games
SethBling
10 HN recommender · 2015–2026
8 mo on HNDeep Dive into LLMs like ChatGPT
Andrej Karpathy
10 HN recommender · 2025–2026
10 mo on HNComputer program that learns to play classic NES games
suckerpinch
9 HN recommender · 2015–2025
9 mo on HNRL Course by David Silver - Lecture 1: Introduction to Reinforcement Learning
Google DeepMind
9 HN recommender · 2017–2026
8 mo on HNLet's build GPT: from scratch, in code, spelled out.
Andrej Karpathy
14 HN recommender · 2023–2025
7 mo on HNBay Area Vision Meeting: Unsupervised Feature Learning and Deep Learning
Google TechTalks
9 HN recommender · 2011–2013
5 comments from Hacker News
The first time I heard of it was in this Matt Parker video where he helped do this with a school-sized group of kids [0]. An "AI player" made of matchboxes, run by schoolkids, is a fantastically fun idea. [0] ▶ this video
Stand up maths did an episode on a similar "machine" called MENACE (Machine Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine) that learns to play tick tac toe. ▶ this video The video description has additional links to resources: link link
Seems like this is what Matt Parker built together with some other people a few years ago: ▶ this video . It's incredibly inefficient compared to running it on a computer, but an amazing way to teach kids about this.
Matt Parker did a video about a physical implementation of MENACE as part of a museum display for a day: ▶ this video
The concept fits. Consider MENACE (Machine Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine). ▶ this video If cells operate in a similar fashion, where adaptation to externalities encodes itself into a durable surface of arbitrary pockets, then we have a recipe for inert systems exhibiting variable degrees of behavior, which is capable of evolving over time. This doesn't solve for sentience, but it does solve for expressive adaptation to fit into complex, hostile environments.