When Derek Wallbank signed up for the Paris Marathon, he quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to do it without serious help. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bloomberg journalist decided to take advantage of the technologies around him and created his own AI coach based on OpenAI's "ChatGPT" chatbot. Thus began a six-month trial of pain and progress, revealing both the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence in personal fitness.
On Sunday, Wallbank crossed the finish line of the Paris Marathon, putting an end to a process during which he lost about 9 kilograms, following training and nutrition plans drawn up in a series of iterative dialogues with AI. His material, published in "Bloomberg News" on the eve of the competition, details the method of trial and error and shows what AI can - and still can't - offer an ordinary runner.
From chatbot to personal trainer
Wallbank's approach consists in providing ChatGPT with his personal data - level of preparation, schedule, goals - and for months to refine the results through a series of questions and feedback. The AI draws up training schedules, gives nutrition recommendations and develops a strategy for the day of the competition, adapting the plans according to what Wallbank reports is working and what is not. His editor, Ed Johnson, describes the text as "an inspiring account of exhausting preparation" and "a trial-and-error experience that shows what AI can do and what it can't."
The experiment fits into a broader trend. Taylor Swartz of "Endorphins", whom Wallbank mentions as a developer of commercial AI fitness tools, is part of a growing group of entrepreneurs trying to make AI coaching widely available. Journalists from publications such as "Outside" and "Time" have already tested ChatGPT for drawing up marathon plans - with mixed impressions: artificial intelligence is praised for detailed programs based on good practices, but criticized for individual mistakes, such as insufficient length of long runs or overly optimistic loading.
Record day on the streets of Paris
Wallbank was among nearly 60,000 runners who took to the track of the 49th edition of the Paris Marathon on the streets of the French capital on Sunday. The route passed from the Champs-Élysées to the Porte Dauphine gate in mild and dry weather conditions. Italian Yemaneberhan Crippa won the elite men's start with a time of 2:05:18, and Ethiopian Shure Demise took the women's title with 2:18:35, improving the course record.
For Wallbank, the finish line means more than sporting success - it is proof that a large language model that receives the correct instructions and works in combination with human perseverance can become an accessible alternative to a personal trainer. With the development of artificial intelligence tools, his experiment poses a question that goes beyond the scope of running: how far can a chatbot take you if you are willing to put in the work?