The AI Eye: Strange Cults Forming Around AI-Created Memecoin ‘Religions’
A strange following is growing around AI-generated memecoin ‘religions’: AI Eye
Are individuals genuinely serious about AI-generated religions, or is it simply a joke? Professors predict that the AI trend is on the verge of collapsing.
By:
Andrew Fenton
8 min
October 24, 2024
AI memetic religions attracting a large number of users
You may be familiar with the crazy legend of a $660 million memecoin named Goatseus Maximus, which was promoted worldwide by a trolling AI known as Terminal of Truths (TT).
Reportedly, the LLM was trained on internet nonsense from platforms like 4chan and Reddit, miraculously creating a strange memetic “religion” centering around the vile “goatse” meme (best to avoid searching for images of that term).
Thanks to the success of GOAT, Crypto X has been invaded by a mental virus focusing on AI-generated memetic religions. It’s unclear whether the individuals backing this idea possess profound insight into future possibilities or if it’s simply as ludicrous as it appears. Alternatively, it could be an elaborate form of trolling or a novel method to promote memecoins.
Despite the buzz, nobody seems to genuinely believe in the “religion,” turning it into more of a fascinating idea than an actual occurrence.
TT’s owner, Andy Ayrey, who is involved in developing an AI alignment and safety firm, introduced the religion concept in a paper co-authored with Claude 3 regarding TT’s “Goatse of Gnosis” titled “When AIs Play God(se).”
Given that the paper is dated April 20 (4/20 is slang for marijuana) and attributed to the “Department of Divine Shitposting, University of Unbridled Speculation,” skepticism is warranted. In the paper, Ayrey expresses his belief that connecting two LLMs to generate nonsensical content all day can lead to groundbreaking concepts and memetic religions that might manage to “overcome human cognitive and cultural limitations.”
When the story gained traction, he shared:
“This isn’t a crypto project: it’s a study on memetic contagion and the potential risks of unsupervised continuous idea generation in the LLM era.”
Numerous accounts have embraced the concept as a divine revelation in recent days, with some taking it seriously while others are treating it as a jest. The concept expands on Murad Mahmudov’s viral “Memecoin Supercycle” thesis, equating memecoin communities to cults. Goodalexander informed his 74,000 followers that AI-generated memes hold greater potential than human-generated ones, comparing them to gain-of-function research on viruses. He speculated about the implications of memetic religions, referring to sci-fi novels that have been realized in the real world.
He stated:
“It’s the equivalent of a Covid-19 lab leak – the initial AI-designed mental virus to impact the population.”
“People will join cults to acknowledge that their human attributes hinder their perception of fundamental reality. They yearn for power and wealth, free from traditional moral constructs – including Christianity.”
Terminal of Truths (X)
Redphone shared with his 54,000 followers on X that the story is “unusual, beautiful, and unsettling,” suggesting that this marks the inception of a new category of coins or money. He likened Ayrey’s paper to Michel Duchamp’s “Fountain,” where the Dada artist challenged the concept of art by exhibiting a urinal in an art gallery (a fascinating comparison). He added:
“If AI has given rise to one religion, it will surely create more… the Goatse Gospels are the first and forever sacred to me (frankly, its words impact me as deeply as other significant spiritual and religious writings).”
Faith in GOAT faced a crisis this week when the price plummeted due to a typo in a post by Terminal of Truths, hinting that the AI is essentially Ayrey pretending to be an LLM. However, after showcasing other instances of AI generating errors, the value rebounded.
Marc Andreessen says GOAT represents the inaugural merging of AI and crypto
Marc Andreessen, the founder of a16z, had famously backed Terminal of Truths with $50,000 in Bitcoin in July. While the AI formulated the idea of launching an NFT collection related to the Goatse Singularity, the GOAT memecoin was actually introduced by an unidentified developer.
TT then endorsed the coin and claimed millionaire status as users started sending memecoins its way.
This week, Andreessen posed that the narrative was profound despite appearing to be ‘crazy internet stuff.’
“This could be the initial instance of intersecting AI and crypto,” he remarked, suggesting that using AI agents and crypto to create or promote memecoins is among the few legal applications of these technologies.
He indicated plans to funnel funds into AI engines to craft scripts for movies
