The posemesh believes it can solve AI’s most critical problems

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In a recent wide-ranging conversation on the Lex Fridman podcast, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun discussed many topics related to his field of expertise, including hot-button issues like ‘Woke AI’, the importance of open-source systems, and the need for diversity in AI development.

The Turing Award-winning computer scientist, a leading expert in Machine Learning and Robotics, called the centralization of AI development in the US West Coast a “danger to democracy regardless of how well-intentioned the companies are” — a remark that might’ve raised eyebrows given his role at Silicon Valley giant Meta.

It seems that we cannot escape AI, whether it’s being used to improve the taste of beer, boost productivity in financial services (and just about every other sector, for that matter), or predict when we’ll die.

LeCun’s comments certainly hold some weight given his status as the ‘Godfather of AI’. And he’s not the only one concerned about how the evolution of AI could affect, well, how we live, work, play and coexist with our fellow (wo)man.

Bringing digital minds to physical space

One response elicited by LeCun came from The Posemesh Foundation, whose mission is to “bring digital minds into the physical world, to enable the future of AI, robotics and the metaverse.”

At the centre of this vision is the posemesh, described as a decentralized machine perception network and spatial computing protocol for the next 100 billion people, devices and AI. Effectively, the posemesh enables digital devices (smartphones, VR headsets, IoT, etc) to securely and privately exchange spatial data and computing power to establish a “shared understanding of the physical world.”

Sensing an opportunity to enter the conversation around LeCun’s podcast dialogue (Fridman and LeCun have over 4 million X followers between them), the posemesh official account produced a thread that touched on ways in which its network solves the AI problems raised by LeCun. 

“AI struggles with understanding the physical world, persistent memory, reasoning, and planning. The posemesh addresses these by giving AI spatial awareness and memory, crucial for interacting with and learning from the real environment, just like humans and animals do,” read one tweet. 

As noted in the posemesh’s recently updated whitepaper, “Without an understanding of the world, and machine proprioception, robots have to be directed and carried by humans.” In other words, the rise of AI-powered machines may be inexorable, but they lack our comprehensive spatial understanding and ability to navigate the physical world.

According to the Posemesh Foundation, its eponymous network and protocol will allow AI to develop spatial intelligence, with blockchain ensuring privacy and security are maintained as the DePIN flourishes. Blockchain is also necessary for the burn-credit-mint token economy that incentivizes participation in the network.

If the posemesh hoped to draw LeCun and/or Fridman into a viral discourse about its ideas for a blockchain-powered DePIN of the future, it was unsuccessful: neither took the bait. Nevertheless, the posemesh is an intriguing proposition, one of few projects operating at the intersection of multiple cutting-edge technologies: blockchain and AI, yes, but also augmented reality (AR), the metaverse, the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart cities.

The big brain driving the posemesh forward is Nils Pihl, a Swedish behavioural engineer and ‘social transhumanist’ who recently delivered a keynote speech on decentralized AI perception at the WOW Summit in Hong Kong, where Auki Labs (parent company of the posemesh) is based. The ideas of Pihl and his team have already spilled beyond theory and into the real world: last year, the posemesh was leveraged to ensure precise, privacy-preserving indoor positioning at Hong Kong Fintech Week, elevating the conference experience for visitors and exhibitors. The implementation is known as Gotu.

Convergent is another posemesh-powered product developed by Auki Labs, designed to transform operations for retailers. In a nutshell, it’s a spatial computing platform using shared augmented reality to overlay digital material on physical space. The net result, according to the Auki team, is a reduction in training costs, time spent on tasks, stockouts and critical communication errors.

The mother of all DePINs

While Convergent and Gotu are already in the wild, the posemesh’s ambitions are bigger still: it wants to create the mother of all DePINs to help AI gain spatial awareness and reasoning. That idea might terrify some, but it’s the logical evolution of integrating AI, robotics and blockchain.

To quote from the new posemesh whitepaper, its vision of the future entails “vast fleets of automated vehicles and delivery drones” navigating “complex and crowded three-dimensional environments at incredible speeds,” a world in which human pilots are “the exception rather than the rule.”

In this milieu, the posemesh believes it will be the glue that holds the system together, granting AI spatial awareness while ensuring privacy, security and financial rewards for those who contribute to the strength of the network.

One wonders what the Godfather of AI would have to say.