Author: Max Sun Source: medium

"The bull market has a concept", with the bull market in November last year At the beginning, BTC exceeded 100,000, and the concept of AI+Web3 combined with more and more technological advancements made us dizzy. The rapid iteration of related concepts and the breadth of imagination have made sleep gradually become a luxury product. Recently, my good friend Renée released a video about DeSci, which has attracted a lot of money. Is this the beginning of a revolution and breaking out of the circle, or is it just another cloud? This gave me the motivation to explain DePIN, DeSci and DeFAI in the simplest possible language.

Big Brother’s full name is “Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks”, which represents decentralized physical infrastructure networks. As early as 2021, IoTeX proposed the concept of MachineFi. The name combines "Machine" (machine) and "DeFi" (decentralized finance), representing the financial concept of machines and the data they generate. After continuous ecological development and evolution, Messari finally proposed the concept of DePIN, which is a way to build and maintain infrastructure in the real world.

DePIN uses blockchain technology to coordinate the physical activities of multiple individual units in a permissionless, trustless and programmable manner through token incentives. Hardware facilities.

IoTeX itself is the best practitioner of the DePIN concept. They are one of the few Web3 projects with physical products besides cold wallets. Its two products, home cameras and physical data recorders, are the pioneers of Web3 entering real life, promoting the cooperation of global users to jointly build and maintain infrastructure networks.

Recently, they also announced a strategic cooperation with Eliza Labs to deeply integrate IoTeX's DePIN modular infrastructure with ElizaOS to jointly create AI with physical world perception capabilities Agent. To put it simply, it means "feeding" the real-time data and services of the DePIN network to the AI ​​Agent.

Here is also a popular science about what is AI Agent, AI AA gent (artificial intelligence agent) is an intelligent entity that can perceive the environment, make decisions and perform corresponding operations. Unlike traditional artificial intelligence systems, AI Agents are autonomous, reactive, proactive and social, capable of simulating human thinking and behavior and performing complex tasks. The evolution from AI to AI Agent is essentially the transformation of AI from passive to active, from single ability to multiple abilities, just like the evolution from "Jarvis" to "Vision".

Back to the collaboration between IoTeX and Eliza Labs, the Eliza agent retrieves and processes real-world data from the DePIN network powered by IoTeX. This will enable Eliza’s Agent to sense, act and learn based on the dynamic physical environment. Eliza might actually be able to evolve into Ultron or Vision one day, if he can actually find vibranium.

Let’s give DePIN a definition. It is a network, a decentralized physical infrastructure network. Infrastructure networks serving storage space, communication traffic, cloud computing, energy and other fields.

The popularity of "second brother" is inseparable from the two big guys CZ and Vitalik. Their initials "CV" are just right It means voice actors, they breathe life into DeSci just like voice actors give life to anime characters.

DeSci's full name is "Decentralized Science" (decentralized science). Its focus is to use the technology and characteristics of blockchain, such as FT, NFT, DAO, etc. to solve Issues such as review, research funding, intellectual property management, data transparency and review mechanisms. DeSci democratizes scientific research and discovery by letting scientists raise funds, run experiments, share data, distribute insights, and more. (Quoting Renée’s video, is DeSci, where hot money is pouring into, the beginning of a revolution and a break from the circle, or another cloud?)

In the many overviews of DeSci, I My favorite definition is that it is more like a bridge, which not only allows ordinary people to participate in the development of "high-level" science and technology through meme, a direct investment method, but in turn allows a group of scientists to obtain sufficient research funds. And use decentralized means to achieve transparency in the entire research process. All data and decisions are publicly recorded on the blockchain, reducing the possibility of human intervention.

Whose "cake" will be touched by the rise and development of DeSci? There is no doubt that the end of the "academic elite" has come! How many scientific research students have had their enthusiasm for science extinguished by "academic cliques". Academic cliques and their disciples use various means to monopolize academic resources, such as research funds, laboratory equipment, academic journal editing rights, etc. Exclude and attack new academics and researchers with different viewpoints, and hinder academic freedom and innovation.

DeSci does not rely on specific authorities and provides equal participation opportunities for any capable researcher through a decentralized approach. This will encourage more newcomers and researchers with different perspectives to participate in academic research and break the monopoly of academic circles. The NFT technology of the blockchain will serve well for intellectual property management, ensuring that all contributors can fairly distribute benefits and preventing academics from obtaining improper benefits by controlling intellectual property.

DeSci has the potential to break the monopoly of academic circles and promote fairness and openness in academia through transparent sharing, decentralized management and democratization. However, DeSci also faces legal, technical, and academic recognition challenges and needs to continuously work on these aspects to achieve its goals.

Similarly, let's give a definition to DeSci: it is a concept and the terminator of "learning valve". DeSci solves the problems of transparency, fairness and openness in traditional scientific research fields by changing the traditional scientific research funding coordination model and scientific research results dissemination model.

DeFAI is a newly born concept. Literally understood, DeFAI is the combination of DeFi and artificial intelligence. Improve the efficiency and security of DeFi projects through the powerful computing power and data analysis capabilities of AI.

Quoting the example in the article "A Preliminary Study of DeFAI: Deep Integration of DeFi and AI, Three Core Scenarios Promote Large-Scale Application of DeFi", users can directly use natural language to Issue instructions, such as: "Exchange 3 ETH for USDC" or "Provide liquidity in the ETH-USDC pool." In the background, AI will automatically parse user requests, search for the best liquidity sources, generate transaction data, and prompt users to select a wallet for signing operations.

Based on this example alone, DeFAI can lower the threshold for Defi users. Users do not need to spend a lot of time learning how to use DeFi infrastructure such as wallets, dex or swap etc. The intervention of AI will significantly reduce complexity and increase certainty.

As a veteran in the currency circle, I am worried about whether AI’s understanding of natural language can complete my trading instructions. After all, some trading parameters change rapidly. It is obvious that my brain directly directs my hand to complete the transaction much faster than my brain directing my mouth to issue commands that are then executed by the AI. When it comes to real money, users cannot sacrifice security for flashy convenience. If DeFAI wants to achieve mass adoption, it must at least make breakthroughs in AI performance, such as Musk's brain-computer interface.

DePIN, DeSci and DeFAI are emerging cutting-edge concepts, each carrying different missions and visions. Although they are still in the initial stage of development, with the continuous advancement of technology, the gradual improvement of ecology and the gradual improvement of market awareness, they are expected to trigger profound changes in their respective fields in the future, and even intertwine and coordinate with each other. , jointly shape a new digital economy ecosystem that is more open, efficient, and intelligent.