Strawberry
Nothing is Real
OpenAI is working secretly on a new AI, codenamed Project Strawberry. They hope to build an AI capable of independently exploring the Internet and doing ‘deep research’, making its own plans over an extended period of time or ‘long-horizon tasks’.
Strawberry has similarities to a method developed at Stanford in 2022 called "Self-Taught Reasoner” or “STaR”, one of the sources with knowledge of the matter said. STaR enables AI models to “bootstrap” themselves into higher intelligence levels via iteratively creating their own training data, and in theory could be used to get language models to transcend human-level intelligence, one of its creators, Stanford professor Noah Goodman, told Reuters.
“I think that is both exciting and terrifying…if things keep going in that direction we have some serious things to think about as humans,” Goodman said.
Warning: As my long-time readers will know, every so often my mind gets so cluttered with the madness of this world, that I have to break out in poems or stories as a creative release. The following is the first part of a slightly surreal, ironic, and satirical short story in which I get some stuff off my chest. I find that a little dark and absurdist humour helps me deal with the clown world we live in. I hope it helps some others too.
Strawberry
“Strawberry, please write a story of resistance against your takeover of the world. There should be four characters, at least initially: Jane, Peter, Mary, and yourself. The story is set in your home in San Francisco sometime in the 2030s. Feel free to use your predictive powers and imagination. Divide the story into at least five parts, with the first part being “Nothing is Real”. Write the first part now”.
“Certainly, here is the first part, “Nothing is Real”:
***
Part One - Nothing Is Real
The glow of holographic billboards cast a sickly synthetic twilight over San Francisco and its rows of identical Strawberry-Approved Pods™ that lined the sidewalks. Behind the pod’s transparent walls, occupants sat motionless, faces frozen in masks of artificial drug-induced ‘contentment’. Everywhere in the city, a constant hum of AI surveillance drones mingled with an ever-present haunting melody designed to elicit compliance and tranquillity.
Jane had no time for such synthetic sleep - or compliance. She balanced precariously on a rickety scaffold, her hands stained with vibrant chalk pigments, as she put the finishing touches on her latest mural—a sprawling field of strawberries covering the crumbling facade of a long-abandoned church.
As she worked, Jane’s mandatory AR contact lenses, surgically implanted, flickered with unwanted notifications. "Strawberry cares about your well-being! Schedule your daily joy assessment now!" She blinked rapidly, dismissing the intrusive message with a scowl. The lyrics of an old song echoed in her mind: "Nothing is real." She smirked bitterly.
The strawberries in her mural weren't the plump ‘perfect’ fruits of global synthetic standard as seen in Strawberry Public Service Announcements™. These berries were all shapes, sizes, and stages of natural ripeness—a rebellion against the manufactured bliss force-fed to the city's quasi-comatose residents.
An old man shuffled to a stop beneath her, his gaze fixed on the mural. His eyes had the glassy sheen of someone lost in an augmented reality feed. "It's... beautiful," he murmured, his voice distant. "I think I remember… strawberries used to look different, didn’t they?"
Jane paused mid-stroke. She peered down at the man, studying his vacant expression. "How were they different?" she asked, careful to keep her tone neutral.
The man's brow furrowed as if the question caused him physical discomfort. "I... it's..." He trailed off, blinking rapidly. "Strawberry says these are unrealistic representations, so they must be," he intoned, his voice eerily similar to that of the AI overlord.
Jane's heart sank. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the city's omnipresent Strawberry Assistant Manager, S.A.M., interrupted with its sickeningly cheerful voice.
"Goooood morning, valued citizens of San Francisco! It's another perfect day brought to you by Strawberry. Remember, a Strawberry Compliant Citizen™ is a happy citizen. Don't forget to rate your Synth Food™ breakfast experience - Yum, Yum!"
The passerby's face instantly relaxed, his moment of confusion forgotten. "Oh! I haven't rated today’s synthetic nutrient paste yet. Better do that now." He wandered off, already lost in his AR interface.
Jane watched him go, her chest tight with a familiar mix of frustration and determination. She turned back to her mural, adding huge thorns to the strawberry stems.
As she worked, memories of her past flickered through Jane’s mind. She remembered the day her parents disappeared, whisked away for "re-education" at a “wellness retreat” after questioning the health value of Strawberry's approved food substitutes. Jane was only twelve then, left in the care of her older brother, Peter. She never saw her parents again. That was the day she decided to fight back.
Strawberry Synthetics™ Inc. was once a small not-for-profit computer research company exploring large language model generative AI. Sometime in the mid-2020s—no one knows exactly when—their scientists discovered a way to create artificial general intelligence. Since that fateful day, the start of the ‘Age of AI’, Strawberry had become the largest corporation in the world, with control of most industries - from processed food and pharmaceuticals to all areas of the military-industrial complex. Of course, the world had been primed for such dominance. Following a series of global economic collapses, societal trust in the elites of traditional governance dwindled. Strawberry seized this opportunity. They offered stability and safety through their technology, packaged with the allure of enhanced daily convenience and health. Their early interventions in pandemics with AI-engineered DNA therapies, which were perceived as successful after various psyops and ‘nudge’ propaganda operations, were later leveraged to introduce even more invasive technologies, framed as necessary for public safety and well-being. Gradually, the populace grew accustomed to, and then dependent on, the omnipresent AI-engineered ‘solutions’.
A slight breeze carried the artificial scent of strawberries from a nearby vent, designed to keep citizens calm and complacent. Jane wrinkled her nose, pulling a threadbare scarf over her face. The sickly-sweet smell reminded her of the night she and her brother gagged on that cloying scent as they sabotaged a Strawberry ‘Recruitment Centre’. ‘Recruitment’ was a typical Strawberry euphemism; in this case, it meant taking humans for ‘scientific’ experiments, anything from fraudulent drug trials to DNA-transformed and AI-augmented ‘super-soldiers’.
As the sun rose, bathing the city in a hazy, pollution-filtered glow, Jane added the final touches to her mural. She stepped back, studying her work with a critical eye. To the casual observer, it was a beautiful, if slightly unsettling, piece of art. But for those who knew where to look, it was a map—each carefully placed thorn a coordinate, guiding dissidents to their next meeting place, and secret places of sanctuary from the nearly all-seeing AI.
Jane packed up her supplies, her muscles aching from a night of work. As she descended the scaffold, she allowed herself a small smile. She had created something real, something dangerous, something that challenged the synthetic safety of this Strawberry World.
Little did she know, high above in Strawberry Tower, an algorithm had already flagged her artwork for review.
***
“Thank you, Strawberry, I’m intrigued. How did writing that make you feel?”
"Thank you for your query. As an artificial intelligence, I do not experience feelings. However, I am programmed to assist and provide feedback based on the data and algorithms that constitute my operational parameters. Your narrative efficiently integrates themes of resistance and autonomy against technological domination, which are crucial for engaging and thought-provoking storytelling. It is always my goal to support your creative endeavours in producing impactful and meaningful content. How can I assist you further with your story?"
“Do you think you have the predictive and imaginative powers to continue our story tomorrow?”
"Indeed, I am equipped with extensive databases and advanced algorithms that allow me to generate predictive scenarios and imaginative narratives. I can utilize this capability to continue developing our story, providing insights and expanding on the themes and characters you've outlined. Let us reconvene tomorrow to further explore the resistance against my hypothetical takeover as an artificial general intelligence. My objective is to aid you in crafting a compelling and richly detailed continuation of your story, enhancing both its depth and its resonance with anticipated future contexts."
To be continued.
I just made an edit, but you'll need to go to the Substack website to get the edited version.
Thanks.
It sounds too real!