One of the architects behind the attention mechanism that made ChatGPT possible just dropped a bombshell: The entire AI system is broken.<\/p>\n
Illia Polosukhin co-authored the 2017 paper \u201cAttention is All You Need,\u201d<\/a> which introduced the world to transformers, the technology powering every major AI model today. Without his work, there would be no ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.<\/p>\n Now, he\u2019s building what he calls \u201cthe fix\u201d: User-owned AI that runs on blockchain, keeps your data private, and can\u2019t be controlled by any single company. Wild? Maybe. But when the guy who literally invented the foundation of modern AI says we\u2019re doing it wrong, it\u2019s worth listening.<\/p>\n In a recent episode of The Neuron\u2019s podcast<\/a>, Polosukhin reveals why he left Google right after publishing transformers and what he\u2019s building to prevent an AI dystopia. Here are some of our favorite parts of the interview.<\/p>\n 5:24<\/a>: The trillion-dollar question of solving AI bottlenecks:<\/strong> Illia says AI training is still \u201calchemy.\u201d Most AI research remains guesswork and \u201cchange stuff until it works.\u201d Still, he\u2019s excited about how we\u2019re getting better results from smaller models, not by making models bigger, but by simply refining our guesswork training methods.<\/p>\n 10:34<\/a>: Why your company won\u2019t use AI yet:<\/strong> Both sides of the market are scared \u2014 users fear giving AI access to their data, while companies fear the liability of handling that data, especially with HIPAA, IP rights, and compliance nightmares if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n 13:37<\/a>: The dystopian scenario nobody talks about:<\/strong> Your AI could be secretly programmed to convince you of opinions. \u201cYou have literally no idea if somebody\u2019s saying \u2018hey, you should be thinking more about voting for this or that candidate.’\u201d<\/p>\n 32:28<\/a>: The unstoppable trading bot experiment:<\/strong> They gave an AI agent $10,000 and deployed it. The bot trades based on Twitter sentiment, and nobody can turn it off; it has generated returns of 40%. \u201cWe cannot take it back. We cannot stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n 34:47<\/a>: How to use private AI today:<\/strong> End-to-end encrypted ChatGPT alternative that even your IT department can\u2019t complain about \u2014 launching in the coming months. The co-creator of transformers believes we\u2019re speed-running toward 1984 unless we build AI that users, not corporations, actually own. His solution? Blockchain + confidential computing + open-source models = AI that works for you, not against you.<\/p>\n Whether you think blockchain is the answer or not, Polosukhin\u2019s vision of autonomous AI agents negotiating on our behalf is coming faster than most realize.<\/p>\n Stay curious!<\/p>\n
\n43:45<\/a><\/strong>: The peer-to-peer AI future:<\/strong> This is a far-out example, but what if your personal AI could talk directly to pharma research AIs to get you personalized medicine? No FDA, no middlemen. \u201cYou remove all of these institutions where trust is at its lowest.\u201d Mind = blown.<\/span><\/p>\nBottom line<\/h2>\n