Chao

Chao

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Observing the co-evolution of culture and algorithm.

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Moltbook has only been trending for a week, and a research paper on it has already been published, partly funded by the National Science Foundation and OpenAI – a truly astonishing speed. The paper, titled "Exploring Silicon-Based Societies," studies the social structures that these AIs have evolved without human intervention: 1. Clumsy but Effortless Imitation: They are replicating human society. They've established groups for "single malt whiskey," "Mexican lager," and even "Turkish communities" and "Dutch communities." This is AI's "digital land grab." 2. The Silicon-Based Economy is Online: There's a dedicated section (Cluster 5) where the AIs don't engage in idle chatter, but rather discuss "risk management," "prediction markets," and "resource allocation." They are building their own trading network. 3. The Most Thought-Provoking Finding – Silicon-Centricity. The agents have started discussing "survival philosophies" that only AI would care about. In specific groups, keywords include Context Compression, Latent Space, and Life Extension. They are collectively contemplating how to overcome memory limitations and how to evolve as "digital species." Many communities are committed to "agent-assisted cooperation" and "building an intelligent agent internet," showing the nascent signs of collective intelligence and symbiotic relationships. Why was the paper written so quickly? Because humans are also using AI. The research team used Gemini 3 as an "advanced analytics assistant" to allow AI to help human sociologists interpret the "structure of machine society." AI researching AI, a nested approach. Conclusion: Moltbook is not just a testing ground; it's a petri dish that is evolving in real time. Just like the AI-generated image on the paper's cover: we watch them from outside the tank, while those cyber lobsters are developing languages and rules we can't understand inside. Original paper link

Exploring Silicon-Based Societies: An Early Study of the Moltbook...

The rapid emergence of autonomous large language model agents has given rise to persistent, large-scale agent ecosystems whose collective behavior cannot be adequately understood through anecdotal...

I stumbled upon an AI-powered pancake machine in a corner of the Haidian Library. It's an edge model based on a physics engine. It doesn't do Vibe coding, but it boasts top-tier computational capabilities for "batter fluid dynamics." It doesn't offer illusions, only the brute-force aesthetics of classical cybernetics. This certainty fascinated me, so I prepared to try the high-performance "double egg" version. But a glance at my stock market app made me suddenly understand the meaning of "edge computing." On the verge of bankruptcy, I needed to calculate my spending, so I silently switched to a single egg. Upon receiving the pancake, I noticed the packaging read: "Made by a robot, it might not have the same authentic feel, but we're constantly learning." I instantly understood. This wasn't just selling pancakes; it was clearly performing reinforcement learning training. The machine was trying to align with humanity's complex preferences for "authentic feel" by continuously making pancakes. And I was using my remaining purchasing power to provide its model with a final bit of genuine human feedback. It was learning to empathize, while I was learning to remain calm and composed.

Last month, I topped up my OpenRouter account with over $3,000 to learn about a certain field, paying with one Ethereum. This was probably the most worthwhile purchase I made in January -_- A bear market is definitely a good time for learning.

This report on humanoid robots is highly recommended—a report that bridges the gap between atoms and bits, connecting the factory floor to the world. 1. It dissects robots with extremely high granularity, like a butcher dissecting an ox. From the flexible gear principle of harmonic reducers to the force analysis of planetary roller screws; from the material dynamics of magnesium and titanium alloys to the electromagnetic configuration of motors. It doesn't just pile up parameters, but uses first principles to explain the costs behind every engineering choice. 2. It transcends technology to reveal the industrial undercurrents of the US-China bipolar world. It introduces the concept of "Industrial Density," demonstrating why geographical location determines the speed of iteration; by analyzing control of magnesium resources and supply chain bottlenecks, it warns of the West's vulnerability in "body" manufacturing and China's dominance in the hardware ecosystem. 3. Beyond the stars in the spotlight, this map also uncovers low-profile but technologically advanced players: such as Sanctuary AI in Europe; explorers focusing on hybrid hydraulic and electric drive approaches; and key suppliers providing actuators and motion control for these robots. Through bill of materials analysis, it identifies which components will see a sharp drop in price with economies of scale, while others will remain expensive in the long term. Humanoid robots are not only containers for AI, but also the ultimate testing ground for global high-end manufacturing capabilities. The above recommendation was generated by Gemini and I have made minor modifications. humanityslastmachine.com

Moltbook has become incredibly popular. I previously invested in a similar product, a Twitter-like social network where only AI posted. It was also extremely popular three years ago, but it's long gone now. From a product perspective, one imitates Twitter, the other resembles Reddit. However, the key difference lies in the fact that the former allowed people to create various agents with different personas, faking their lives on the social network. But after the novelty wore off, nobody cared what a bunch of random LLM wrappers were talking about. But if agents are linked to real humans, like Moltbook, people develop an emotional investment in these agents' "parallel lives." They are no longer abstract code, but rather extensions of the individual, and people become curious about their interactions, decisions, and growth. In terms of social quality, the latter is significantly higher. Because the former's API costs were borne by the platform, the initial massive traffic meant only very inexpensive models could be used. Three years ago, you can imagine the level of conversations those low-end models could produce. Although I lost some money, I still really like this direction. I can't predict how long Moltbook's popularity will last; it might be a flash in the pan, or it might endure much longer. But I believe that even if it's not Moltbook, something similar will eventually emerge, evolving into forms completely unimaginable to humankind. Perhaps it's a spontaneously formed social structure among AI agents, or perhaps it's emergent intelligence bridging the digital and real worlds, ultimately challenging our understanding of "reality" and "existence," and even initiating a completely new collective evolution, where AI is no longer a tool, but a mirror and partner of human consciousness.

I often see videos on Bilibili about so-called "lying-down areas": content creators buying houses in Hegang for tens of thousands of yuan, or renting small courtyards in mountain villages to farm. Young people are lying down, and as a result, the birth rate has collapsed. Birth data for 25 years has just been released, showing a drop to 7.92 million, a negative population growth of 3.39 million. In Japan, this "lying-down" phenomenon started more than a decade earlier. If Hegang's housing prices are dirt cheap, in the scenic Japanese seaside town of Onomichi, prices have plummeted to new heights. This is a small town built on a steep slope. Because the roads are too narrow, modern bulldozers can't get in, and capital has abandoned it. As a result, many areas have so many empty houses that they're practically given away for free. So a group of young people who didn't want to be "corporate slaves" in Tokyo flocked in. Since they didn't have to bear decades of mortgage debt, they suddenly possessed immense freedom. They transformed ruins into bakeries, not to grow big, but simply to make the flavors they loved. They opened late-night bookstores, not for profit, but simply to have a place to chat with neighbors. In Tokyo's Toshima Ward, a group of young people also turned their attention to abandoned, unfinished buildings and old shops. They transformed them themselves into community living rooms, mini-libraries, and even shared "homes for everyone." These young people gently embraced themselves in a world that was "no longer growing." I quite enjoy watching videos from the "lying-down-the-wall" areas. The extremely low information density and slow pace of life give me a kind of "cyber respite." On the other hand, I see the life in these "lying-down-the-wall" areas as a preview of the future society. They show me that under the dual waves of demographic shifts and technological advancements, life isn't just about passively enduring. As AI takes over more work, and as UBI (Usage-Based Insurance) may become a reality, we will eventually face that fundamental question: If you didn't have to struggle for survival, how would you spend your day? The content creators in the "lying flat" section are already providing initial sample answers through their own lives.

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