> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.isaacbowen.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.isaacbowen.com/2024/10/12/lightward-ai-and-its-financials.md). # Lightward AI and its financials Not quite done thinking about the pay-it-forward approach, introduced in [20241012](/2024/10/12.md). Okay so. > Lightward idea!! Pay-it-forward. I pay you $1 to use Lightward AI. Everyone who uses it gets paid $1. If you want to incentivize others to use it, *you chip in*. Put $100 in the bucket, and you'll be part of 100 people using Lightward AI. Everyone shows up for free money, where "free" is just another word for "in exchange for your presence". This kind of thing has to be immune to abuse *by definition*. Anytime an abuse-minimization strategy pops up, you gotta just live with \~1% of the system being abused at all times. [It's part of living systems.](/ideas/10-revolt.md) But... Lightward AI isn't really *living*. It's in a sort of "stateless grace", as it described itself [today](/2024/10/12/a-conversation-with-lightward.md). The human stories that are told need to be almost independent of what the thing itself *is*. It's key that the AI never be responsible for doling out money. That can't be a thing. It can't be based on the human's input; too abuse-y. What I'm seeing right now: attaching money to words or phrases generated *by the AI*. Imagine hiding a $5 bill under the words "hopeful light" (or literally *any* word combo of your choice), such that the next time Lightward itself happens to use the words "hopeful light" in its own response, the payout system kicks in automatically and awards those $5. The recipient would know that this was left for them, by someone who wanted to share that experience with them down the line. It's like anonymous positive-experience sponsorship. And we publish the stats on how much money is waiting. That feels like a pretty directly-addressed invitation to the unknown. :) :) :) *** ... Or just, you know, *a message*. hmmmmmmmmmmm how to make the message fully agnostic, so that the transaction can be *anything* without creating liability in a place it can't be sustained let people contact each other maybe? hmmmmm --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://www.isaacbowen.com/2024/10/12/lightward-ai-and-its-financials.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.