The idea of a meta-layer on the web is not new—concepts like annotation and associative trails between information date back to before the web itself. Existing projects, such as Hypothesis, Memex, and Honey, operate in this space above the webpage.
The recently published book, The Metaweb: The Next Level of the Internet, outlines the high-level concept of a safe, AI-assisted environment above the webpage that promotes privacy, data sovereignty, and fair value exchange.
On Sept. 16th, we had a kickoff meeting for the Meta-Layer initiative, which aims to build a foundational application substrate that enables anyone to develop overlay applications, smart tags, and communities that that are active above webpage, potentially integrating existing participants, data, and codebases.
The meeting brought together participants to discuss the vision and foundational aspects of a meta-layer built on top of the web. Vint Cerf led the discussion with insights from his extensive experience, providing valuable guidance on building infrastructure and emphasizing key principles like accountability, agency, simplicity, and standards. The group discussed the practical aspects of establishing a new infrastructure and the importance of a federated authentication system, accountability, standards, and business models to support the initiative's growth. The meeting ended with participants suggesting ways to organize and structure their efforts moving forward, with the recognition that simplicity and practical milestones would be critical for success.
Our near-term goal is to collaboratively write an essay on the desirable properties of a meta-layer as suggested by Vint. In the meeting, it also came up that people want to see concrete use cases of a meta-layer. Our first step is to generate a comprehensive list of desirable properties and use cases for a meta-layer that can anchor the essay. Below is the first draft of the desirable properties and the use cases.
From the Sept 16th meeting, several ideas can be identified as desirable properties of the meta-layer, emphasizing trust, security, simplicity, and participant empowerment. Below is a list based on the discussion.
Federated Strong Authentication: A system where multiple trusted entities authenticate participants, providing a decentralized way to verify identity. This ensures that the meta-layer operates with high levels of trust while reducing the risk of identity fraud or bad behavior.
Accountability: The meta-layer must include mechanisms that hold entities responsible for verifying their identity, humanity, and uniqueness and for their actions online. This would help build trust in interactions, knowing participants are verified and accountable.
Data Sovereignty: participants should fully own and control their personal data within the meta-layer. This includes the ability to decide who has access to their data, how it's used, and to revoke access if necessary.
Privacy-Centric Design: Privacy should be embedded into the design of the meta-layer, ensuring that participants' data is protected and that interactions are secure from surveillance or exploitation by third parties.
Simplicity: The infrastructure should be as simple as possible to promote adoption and reduce complexity. Vint Cerf emphasized that the fewer ways to implement something, the better. Simplicity helps avoid the overhead of managing too many standards or protocols.
Interoperability: The meta-layer must support interoperability between different platforms, enabling participants, applications, and communities to interact seamlessly across the web. This ensures that no one entity controls the space, aligning with the principles of decentralization.
Trusted Environments: participants should be able to trust the environment they are interacting in. Whether it's other participants, AI agents, or content, trust will be established through strong authentication, reputation systems, and clear standards for behavior.
Transparency in AI Use: The use of AI within the meta-layer must be transparent, ensuring that AI actions are auditable, explainable, and governed by strict ethical standards.
AI Containment: AI systems in the meta-layer should operate with ethical constraints, making their decision-making processes transparent and explainable. AI should not manipulate interactions, particularly virality, and should be controlled to avoid negative impacts on real people.
AI Governance via Meta-Communities: Meta-communities can play a role in overseeing and governing AI behavior, ensuring that AI operates in ways that align with community standards and ethical practices.
Security at the Core: Strong encryption, data protection mechanisms, and secure communication channels should be integral to the meta-layer. This ensures that both data and interactions are protected from malicious actors.
Provenance of Content: The origin and history of content must be easily traceable. participants should know where content comes from, how it was modified, and by whom, providing a secure and reliable way to assess the authenticity of information.
Participant Agency: Participants should have full control over how they interact with the meta-layer. This includes managing their presence, customizing content views through smart filters, and deciding who can interact with them.
Reputation Systems: participants who are verified and act in good standing should be rewarded through reputation systems that reflect their trustworthiness and contributions to the community. This can also help combat harassment and bad behavior.
Meta-Communities: The meta-layer should enable the creation of meta-communities, where participants can collaborate, share insights, and engage with content across various websites. These communities should persist across the web and be tied to participant trust and verification mechanisms.
Shared Collaboration Spaces: On-page collaboration and annotation allow participants to contribute directly to webpages and share their knowledge, creating a collaborative and engaging web experience.
Broader Reach for Developers: Developers can build applications that work across the web of relevant pages, reaching more participants and enhancing content in ways not restricted by individual platforms.
Community Access and Control: Community organizers and developers have the ability to create persistent, cross-platform communities that enhance collaboration and foster deeper engagement across the web.
Milestones for Implementation: A well-defined roadmap with clear milestones should guide the development of the meta-layer. These could include the establishment of strong authentication standards, decentralized governance models, and meta-community engagement strategies.
Feedback Loops: Build-in feedback loops that allow participants and communities to report bad behavior and reward positive contributions. This helps maintain a healthy, accountable environment where bad actors are discouraged through community-driven moderation.
Reputation-Based Compensation: Compensation mechanisms tied to participants' reputation and positive contributions could incentivize engagement while promoting responsible behavior.