The Wolf Has Been Catching Eggs for 45 Years. Who Dreamed Him Up?
Why on earth is the wolf from Nu, Pogodi! collecting eggs instead of chasing the hare? How did that same wolf help Nintendo turn from a playing-card company into an electronics one? And why is this story the exact opposite of the other cult game of the same generation, Tetris, which came out of the USSR? And finally, the game itself, written by Claude in minutes.
02The Claude Before Claude
Who is the man whose name we utter every day the moment we open one of the most popular artificial intelligences? Why will no one confirm that the bot is named after him? And how did a seemingly unremarkable mathematician, who rode his one-wheeled bike through the corridors of MIT, arrive at the idea that gave birth to both the mobile phone and large language models?
03Mr. McGonigle: The Irish American from Bulgaria
“I am trying to wrench this story out of myself, but which country will take it in?” A Brooklyn-born writer of Irish stock gets off a train in Sofia in the 1960s, walks into the first shop he sees and finds both a wife and the subject of his first and latest novels. Can a person fall in love with a country? Thomas McGonigle certainly loves Bulgaria. But… why?
04Adrien Bachi: The Lessons of Bluebeard
Adrien loves to run—down the entrepreneurial road and in real marathons, but above all against stereotypes. Adrien Bachi has lived in Sofia for 18 years, runs a successful video game company that employs Bulgarians, has adopted a Bulgarian girl and has gathered plenty of digital stories to tell us. Here they are!
05AI at the Bookmaker's: Did Claude and ChatGPT Win Betting on the World Cup?
I gave 20 euros each to the latest versions of ChatGPT and Claude. I opened accounts for them on two popular betting sites just before the decisive matches of the World Cup. Then I gave them complete freedom to manage on their own. What do you think happened? Could AI become the gambler's assistant, or the end of this business? I had never opened a betting site. Nor would I ever work for one; I have seen enough examples of gambling being a drug that kills. But in times like these… couldn't we check whether AI might be the one that can beat it? Whether it turns out to be too good and makes nonsense of the pure mathematics behind the fact that there's no way not to lose the long game…
06What I Learned from the Virtual “Georgi Karamanev”
Talking to yourself. In psychology, this is hardly considered a sign of good emotional health. But what if, besides talking to yourself, you set your virtual double free so that anyone can talk to him? What would people ask him that they would ask you? And what wouldn't they? Some of the experiments on this site are already bolder than the impossible and the unimaginable. And that is exactly what awaits you here. Two months ago, “Georgi” appeared on this page—my digital double, whom you can still meet today through the chat button in the bottom right corner of this site. Anyone was welcome to have a chat with him. From the very start, I had warned that I would be following the conversations so that we could bring the experiment to a fitting close with the lines that follow. In them, we'll look at what happened to the virtual “Georgi.” What did people ask him? Where did he cope and where did he fail? What does each of these conversations have to tell us? We take a peek into the conversations with the chatbot, and I'll leave most of the reflecting to you. And if you want to test his skills, he is still here, waiting for you. I admit, I definitely didn't anticipate even a fraction of the conversations “Georgi” had. Here's what I mean.
07Why Is Everyone Listening to Andrej Karpathy?
“There’s a new kind of coding I call ‘vibe coding,’ where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.” With those words, on February 2 of last year, a world-famous programmer founded an entirely new field: a world in which software is made not by writing code but by explaining in human language. Andrej Karpathy, a co-founder of OpenAI and a builder of Tesla’s self-driving cars, has just joined Anthropic. What future does he see, and what kind of man is one of the prophets of the age of advanced artificial intelligence?
08*1984* in 2026: Was Orwell Right?
Eleven editions since 2021. That is how many new versions of one of the most discussed books of our time have appeared in Bulgarian alone over the past five years, ever since the 70th anniversary of George Orwell's death “opened” the publishing rights. Are we really living in Big Brother's world, or did Orwell turn out less accurate in his judgments than we think? Let's discuss this big and important question, because it also says a lot about the future.
09Dimo Padalski vs. ChatGPT: The Last Battle for Knowledge
Artificial intelligence takes on Dimo Padalski, Plamen Mladenov (the Professor) and 120 more of the finest masters of the quiz game. ChatGPT against people who have won more than 1,000 battles between them in shows like The Floor, “The Last One Wins,” “A Minute Is a Lot,” “Get Rich” and “The Chase.” What will come of it? Who will be the big winner?
10“Technology Is Uprooting Man More and More”
“We remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm it or deny it.” Sounds timely, doesn't it? Martin Heidegger never scrolled through a feed or held a smartphone, yet his words on our relationship with technology matter more than ever: here are 10 selected quotes for us to discuss.
11Dario Amodei: Is It Too Late for Humanity to Wake Up?
“Humanity is about to be handed almost unimaginable power, and it is deeply unclear whether our social, political, and technological systems possess the maturity to wield it.” So says perhaps the most talked-about tech leader of the moment, and he has good reason to. “He hates Western civilization,” wrote Musk. “A liar with a God complex,” snapped Under Secretary of War Emil Michael. “Leftwing nut jobs,” added Trump. All words from the past few weeks, aimed at today’s hero. Who is this fearsome enemy? You would hardly guess that it is a level-headed, mild-looking physicist from San Francisco who simply announced that he will not allow his company to be used for building autonomous weapons or for mass surveillance. Dario Amodei, the creator of the most advanced AI models, has finally landed where he deserves to be—in the spotlight. And not only because he stood up to the most powerful state on earth at the real risk of destroying his multibillion-dollar company. Not only because, in recent years, Anthropic’s models have pushed artificial intelligence to incredible heights. But also because he dared to peer into the future. The place we are all heading toward, where few dare to ask the truly important questions. Such as—how do we survive as a civilization in the age of super-advanced artificial intelligence?
12From The Floor to Quizza: Put Your Knowledge to the Test!
Let me introduce Quizza! A website we built as volunteers. Where you can challenge yourself by taking any of our many permanent quizzes on all sorts of topics. Where you can face off in a weekly contest against some of the heroes you know from online and offline competitions! And, last but not least, where you can discover causes that each of us stands behind with our own name! I have no doubt that last night you watched the first episode of The Floor, the new and innovative game show on NOVA, one of Bulgaria's main TV channels. If you didn't, it's not too late at all—there are still 12 whole episodes to come. It is a reason to celebrate in itself that a game about knowledge, not scandal, has made it to prime time, and I believe it will be the hit of the season. Rumor (and ChatGPT) has it that I'm in it too. But we're here for a slightly different digital story, one closely tied to the game. It comes to show us that when we are together, we are capable of miracles. That if people brought together supposedly to compete and beat one another can reach out a hand for something bigger, then our society can do it too. Do you like to provoke and test your knowledge? Are you looking for meaningful causes to help, knowing for sure that your help goes to the right place and supports something important and lasting? If your answer is “yes” to even one of these questions, then this Digital Story is just for you!
13Go: The Great Game
Two people stare stubbornly at rows of neatly arranged, round, flat stones. Just a game, you might say, but it is not that simple—not at all. This is not only one of the oldest games we know but also the most complex, and for a long time we considered it humanity’s last bastion, the place where technology could never overtake us. When it finally did, a remarkable new digital story was born.
14“Without a Little Madness, It Just Won't Work”
In this life you shouldn't, and can't, only take. If you don't give—in return or entirely for free—you have lived in vain, as the popular hit song goes. Even if we know it, it is worth reminding ourselves often. I hope this Digital Story reaches more people. I believe that if more people recognize its lessons, we are all capable of reclaiming the conversation and helping our country flourish. Of fulfilling the great dream of the protagonist and narrator here—that our children will WANT to stay in Bulgaria. Tenko Nikolov is not only one of Bulgaria's most successful tech entrepreneurs. He is a visionary who believes in the power of a close-knit team, shared values and a little “healthy” madness.
15Experiment: How Many People Will Click the Dangerous Link?
A very important and revealing experiment. Together with cybersecurity specialists, we send emails to 393 randomly chosen Bulgarian addresses. We simulate a cyberattack to see how many people will fall for it. And the results are astonishing…
16Slipping Out of the Net
The internet keeps connecting us, and the internet keeps dividing us. But how many parts of our lives have we handed over to technology? This Christmas Digital Story follows a woman who found love online, built a family in England, and then decided to escape a society where everything happens on a screen.
17Look at That! When Seeing Becomes an Art
Seeing and recognizing are no longer an objective skill or a science. Neither technology nor people can prove to us, with enough certainty to matter, which work is human and which is not. So isn't it time we started treating looking, the search for truth and fact-checking… as an art?
18AI: Revolution or Marketing Hype? Your Opinion Matters! (Survey)
Is artificial intelligence unjustified media hype or the great force that will change our future as a species? Will it open incredible opportunities for people, or turn the world into a digital concentration camp? Your opinion is extremely important, and I will be grateful from the bottom of my heart if you share it in a short survey! Prizes await too: selected books! Responses are collected until December 31. You can choose which questions to answer. The survey is anonymous. Every response, every share is invaluable help in seeing how we relate today to the great technological subject of our time!
19Will There Be a Bulgarian Author? Book Picks from IT Leaders, Part III
Would you have guessed that Bulgarian IT leaders read Harry Potter, or even Dostoevsky? I wouldn't have, at least until a week ago, when I asked them and it turned out they do. On the eve of the Day of the Buditeli, I invited 30 remarkable people to recommend three favorite books to the readers of Digital Stories, and today I present the second half of their answers.
20From Dostoevsky to Harry Potter: What Bulgaria's IT Leaders Read
I sent a short invitation to 30 IT figures I find remarkable: recommend three of your favorite books to the readers of Digital Stories. I tried to make the lineup of guests as varied as possible, from people in leadership roles to well-known speakers, from those working across the ocean to foreigners the industry has brought to Bulgaria, representing the widest range of technologies and different generations. Get ready for some stereotypes to blow up! I received no fewer than 20 replies, and I have the pleasure of presenting them to you! Once again they amazed me with their variety, their range and their depth, and they gave me plenty of ideas for future reads to add to my Goodreads list. Today I present the recommendations of the first ten guests; the rest will follow in a week. They aren't grouped by any particular logic—they simply turned out too varied and unexpected for that—so I offer them in the order I received them. Happy reading!
