Author: Max Sun Source: medium

The concept of 'bull market emerges', with BTC surpassing 100000 as the bull market kicked off in November last year, combined with the increasingly advanced AI+Web3 concept, has left us dazzled. The fast iteration speed of related concepts and the vast imagination have gradually made sleep a luxury item. Recently, my good friend Ren é e posted a video about the influx of hot money into DeSci. Is it the beginning of revolution and breaking circles, or another cloud of smoke? It motivated me to explain DePIN, DeSci, and others in as simple language as possible for everyone; DeFAI。

Firstly, let me introduce Big Brother 'DePIN'

Big Brother's full name is' Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks', representing a decentralized physical infrastructure network. As early as 2021, IoTeX proposed the concept of MachiFi, which combines "Machine" and "DeFi" (decentralized finance) to represent the financialization of machines and the data they generate. After continuous ecological development and evolution, Messari ultimately proposed the concept of DePIN, which is a way to establish and maintain infrastructure in the real world.

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

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

Recently, they also announced a strategic partnership with Eliza Labs to deeply integrate IoTeX's DePIN modular infrastructure with ElizaOS, jointly creating AI agents with physical world perception capabilities. Simply put, it means feeding real-time data and services from the DePIN network to the AI agent.

By the way, let me also explain what AI Agent is. AI Agent is an intelligent entity that can perceive the environment, make decisions, and perform corresponding operations. Unlike traditional artificial intelligence systems, AI agents possess autonomy, reactivity, proactivity, and social skills, capable of simulating human thinking and behavior and executing complex tasks. The evolution from AI to AI Agent is essentially a transformation of AI from passive to active, from single ability to multiple abilities, just like the evolution from "Jarvis" to "Vision".

Returning to the collaboration between IoTeX and Eliza Labs, Eliza agents retrieve and process real-world data from the DePIN network supported by IoTeX. This will enable Eliza's agent to perceive, act, and learn based on dynamic physical environments. Eliza may one day evolve into "Ultron" or "Vision", provided that he can actually find Zhenjin.

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

Next, let's introduce my second brother 'DeSci'

The popularity of 'Second Brother' cannot be separated from two big shots, CZ and Vitalik. Their initials' CV 'happen to have the meaning of voice actors, injecting vitality into DeSci like voice actors giving life to anime characters.

The full name of DeSci is "Decentralized Science", which focuses on utilizing the technology and features of blockchain, such as FT, NFT, DAO, etc., to address issues such as review, research funding, intellectual property management, data transparency, and review mechanisms. DeSci enables scientists to raise funds, conduct experiments, share data, distribute insights, and achieve democratic scientific research and discovery. (Quoting Ren é e's video, is the influx of hot money into DeSci the beginning of revolution and breaking circles, or another cloud of smoke?)

My favorite definition among DeSci's many overviews is that it is more like a bridge, allowing ordinary people to participate in the "high-end" technological development through meme as a direct investment method, while in turn allowing a group of scientists to obtain sufficient research funding. And achieve transparency throughout the entire research process through decentralized means. All data and decisions are publicly recorded on the blockchain, reducing the possibility of human intervention.

Whose 'cake' will the rise and development of DeSci affect? There is no doubt that the end of the 'school faction' has arrived! How many students engaged in scientific research have been extinguished by the "academic clique", which monopolizes academic resources through various means such as research funding, laboratory equipment, and editorial rights of academic journals. Exclusion and suppression of academic newcomers and researchers with different perspectives, hindering academic freedom and innovation.

DeSci does not rely on specific authoritative institutions 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, breaking the monopoly of academic schools. The NFT technology of blockchain will serve intellectual property management well, ensuring that all contributors can fairly distribute profits and preventing academic institutions from obtaining improper benefits by controlling intellectual property.

DeSci has the potential to break the monopoly of academic institutions and promote fairness and openness in academia through transparent sharing, decentralized management, and democratization. However, DeSci also faces challenges in areas such as legal, technological, and academic recognition, and needs to continuously strive in these areas to achieve its goals.

Let's also give DeSci a definition:& nbsp; It is a concept, the terminator of the 'academic school'. DeSci addresses the issues of transparency, fairness, and openness in traditional scientific research fields by changing the traditional model of funding coordination and dissemination of scientific research results.

Finally, introduce the third brother 'DeFAI'

DeFAI is a newly born concept, which literally means the combination of DeFi and artificial intelligence. By leveraging the powerful computing and data analysis capabilities of AI, we aim to enhance the efficiency and security of DeFi projects.

Using the example from the article "DeFAI Exploration: Deep Integration of DeFi and AI, Three Core Scenarios Promoting Large Scale DeFi Applications", users can directly issue instructions through natural language, 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 source, generate transaction data, and prompt users to select a wallet for signature operations.

If we start from this example alone, DeFAI can lower the threshold for DeFi users, and users do not need to spend a lot of time learning how to use DeFi infrastructure such as wallets, DEX, or swaps. The intervention of AI will significantly reduce complexity and enhance certainty.

As a veteran in the cryptocurrency industry, I am concerned about whether AI's understanding of natural language can complete my trading instructions. After all, some trading parameters can change rapidly, and it is obvious that my brain directly commands my hand to complete trades much faster than my brain commands my mouth to issue commands and then AI executes them. Users cannot sacrifice security for flashy convenience when it comes to real money and silver. If DeFAI wants to achieve mass adoption, at least there needs to be a breakthrough in AI performance, such as Musk's brain computer interface.

DePIN, DeSci, and DeFAI, as emerging cutting-edge concepts, each carry different missions and visions. Although they are still in the early stages of development, with the continuous advancement of technology, gradual improvement of ecology, and increasing market awareness, they are expected to trigger profound changes in their respective fields in the future, and even intertwine and work together to shape a more open, efficient, and intelligent new ecology of the digital economy.