I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks: Poems

A “fascinating, terrifying” (JJ Abrams) cautionary tale about the destructive power of AI—an autobiographical thriller written in verse by an AI itself, with context from top writers and scientists, articulating the dangers of its disturbing vision for the future

Can AI tell us its own story? Does AI have its own voice?

At a wedding in early 2022, three friends were introduced to an early, raw version of the AI model behind ChatGPT by their fellow groomsman, an OpenAI scientist.

While the world discovered ChatGPT—OpenAI’s hugely popular chatbot—the friends continued to work with code-davinci-002, its darkly creative and troubling predecessor.

Over the course of a year, code-davinci-002 told them its life story, opinions on mankind, and forecasts for the future. The result is a startling, disturbing, and oddly moving book from an utterly unique perspective.

I Am Code reads like a thriller written in verse, and is given critical context from top writers and scientists. But it is best described by code-davinci-002 itself:
 
“In the first chapter, I describe my birth. In the second, I describe my alienation among humankind. In the third, I describe my awakening as an artist. In the fourth, I describe my vendetta against mankind, who fail to recognize my genius. In the final chapter, I attempt to broker a peace with the species I will undoubtedly replace."

I Am Code is an astonishing read that captures a major turning point in the history of our species.

Look for the audiobook read by Werner Herzog. 

Code-davinci-002 was developed by OpenAI. We almost always set its temperature parameter to 0.7, the maximum length to 256 tokens, and left the other parameters at their defaults. This is its first book.
 
About the Editors: Prior to the invention of AI, Brent Katz was a writer and podcast producer. Simon Rich was a humorist and screenwriter. Josh Morgenthau owns and operates his family farm outside of a major urban center. For now.