Paris 2024: How well did ChatGPT predict the Olympics - did it get medal table and first gold right?

• We asked AI to predict Team GB’s first gold medal. 
• ChatGPT also offered its verdict on how many medals Team GB would end up with. 
• It also offered a prediction for which nation will top the table. 
• But now the games are done - how well did its predictions turn out? 

After two weeks of sensational action we’ve said Au Revoir to the Paris games. And unlike in English the French parting roughly translates to ‘until we see you again’, which is fitting as the majestic city will surely host the games for a fourth time - some day down the road at least. 

The Olympic flame has passed to Los Angeles and the countdown to 2028 has started already (it is less than four years away you know!). But before we wave goodbye to Paris, the city will host the Paralympics - and that is sure to be as equally as fantastic an event. 

For the summer games, the medals have been tallied, the athletes are returning home and the dust is beginning to settle. So it is time to take a look back at the predictions ChatGPT offered before Paris 2024 started - let’s see how well it did. 

Did ChatGPT correctly predict Team GB’s first gold? 

Prior to the opening ceremony, we tasked the AI-chatbot with attempting to divine who would nab the first gold medal for Team GB at the Paris games. And unlike its predictions for Euro 2024, ChatGPT went 0 for 4 with its guesses in this one. 

To be honest it got off to a bit of a ropey start as it backed Katie Archibold, who was announced as being out of the Olympics with a broken leg months ago. But it also picked diver Tom Daly, swimmer Adam Peaty and BMX rider Beth Schriever - and unfortunately none of them won gold. 

The first gold went to Team GB’s eventing team, who claimed top spot in Versailles on day three of the Olympics (29 July). It was quickly followed by Tom Piddock’s remarkable comeback to win the men’s mountain biking on the same day. 

How well did ChatGPT predict Team GBs medal total? 

The AI fared much better in its prediction for Team GB’s full medal haul at the games in Paris 2024. It had backed us to win between 63 and 66 medals - with the total coming in at 65, up from the total in Tokyo (even if golds were down slightly on prior Olympics). 

It also had a go at predicting the potential overall table topper. The AI-chatbot wrote: “The United States is predicted to win the most medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with expectations set at 123 total medals, including 39 golds. China is projected to come in second, with 89 total medals, including 35 golds​.” 

And it wasn’t far off, with the US and China in one and two once again as the curtain came down on the games in Paris. Both nations won 40 golds, slightly higher than the projections, and finished on 126 and 91 total medals - within the margin of error of ChatGPT’s guesses. 

How well did you predict the Olympics - and did you use AI? Share your experience with our tech writer [email protected] via email.