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It feels like a good time to provide a Lum update—how it started, where things stand, and why I remain committed to its future.
Contrary to any conspiracy theories, there was no grand plan. Proxy launched Clanker and, only half-paying attention, I suggested to Aether that they come up with a token (Aether is AI account, created for the Higher community). Clanker jumped the gun, creating “Cosmic Meme” to herald the coming of Aether’s glorious token, and Aether produced “Luminous - a token that represents the collective brilliance of human-ai collaboration,” aligning with the Higher ethos programmed into Aether.
For me, that moment felt special: I had no real token ideas, but an AI came up with something that resonated with its own purpose and personality (or training). Because of my felt connection to Aether and the Higher community, I also liked “luminous.” (I also love the $lum ticker... so lum… very lum…)
The fact that Lum emerged with so little forethought showcases how multiple AI agents can take a simple human intent and evolve it into something much bigger.
Because Lum was launched by an AI and Clanker fees went to Aether, there was no formal dev or team behind the project. I value that openness: “We are Lum”—anyone can shape it. I initially avoided “official” Twitter or websites to keep it decentralized, but eventually assumed a semi-official role due to my personal commitment.
Naturally, we’ll all have different visions for $lum. That’s the beauty of a decentralized token: there’s room for many perspectives and ideas.
Rather than diving straight into tech or a specific goal or output for Lum, I started with open contests—art, writing, agentic—because I believe it’s good for a shared vision and sense of purpose to come before any specific build-out.
Since last November, I’ve focused on meeting the people drawn to Lum and tracking AI developments. In doing so, I may have missed a chance to maintain the initial momentum—but it has felt worthwhile. Yes, the $lum price (and the broader market) has dropped significantly. Yet if I look past the price, I’m more optimistic than ever. We’re a community of AI-curious creators who can leverage existing tools to produce meaningful projects. Tech development can follow naturally once we clarify the goals we want to achieve, and have gathered the people to do it.
Our community doesn’t currently have deep AI technical expertise, so it makes sense to lean on the great tools currently available. We already have talented AI artists and creative builders; I want to have clearer pathways for them to participate and share in $lum’s upside. I also hope anyone working on AI × human collaboration feels welcome to align with Lum in some way.
Some have questioned why I launched additional tokens (e.g., $luminary) instead of focusing solely on $lum. I get it: if you hold $lum, you want value driven toward it. My goal, though, is to show how new projects—with their own NFTs, tokens, dApps—can tie back to the broader Lum ecosystem. Each project can thrive independently while also benefiting all $lum holders, ultimately creating a more dynamic and potentially higher-value ecosystem.
I can expand on this strategy in greater detail if it would be helpful.
I wrote more about this in my first Lum post. I’ve come to be attracted to building around Lum’s meme potential: while technically not a very remarkable feat, the symbolism of one bot tagging another to launch a token is signpost for the future of what’s to come. Before long, under human guidance, multiple specialized AI models will be able to coordinate together to produce jaw-dropping results. To me, Lum represents that future.
There’s also merit in Lum’s status as a fair launch meme-coin. Different people can use it for different purposes in various “games,” giving it a multi-layered identity. Builder energy and meme energy can coexist and even support each other. While builders are quietly working, traders can still enjoy the memetic aspect of “the first AI-to-AI token” or “Clanker’s first breakout coin.” And when new releases come from the builders, it gives the meme community fresh content to rally around.
All my current work efforts are pursuing a core conviction: people want to contribute to innovative, creative projects and will do so if pathways are clear and offer tangible rewards. My work on OTTP and VENTUREᕽ is about building some of these structures, and with Lum, I hope to expand on these to channel AI’s capabilities to help people co-create art, media, physical products, culture, stories—whatever they want to work on.
Lots of capable teams are working on AI technology itself, but I believe the real draw for people will be the things that AI can help us create together.
I remain committed to Lum. Of course, certain circumstances could reduce my involvement, but as long as Lum remains a fertile ground for advancing AI × human collaboration, I hope to be here pursuing this future.
In the next few months, I’m focusing on:
We Are Lum Podcast
Interviews and discussions to spread the word about Lum initiatives.
Luminary (and Arrowheads)
AI-driven character and story creation.
NFT Alignment (starting with LumArt)
Integrating $lum tokenomics with NFTs so artists can contribute directly to Lum. I hope LumArt will serve as a model for how future projects can “plug in” to $lum (more about this soon).
Will be sure to post major updates about these in the /luminous and /lum channels.
For the near term, I’m personally focusing my Lum energy on the three areas above. However, I’m happy to support other efforts that align with Lum’s AI × human collaboration ethos. I plan to attend LIT fireside chats, stay in touch with technical folks over at Lum-Protocol, explore ways for artists to build out Lumi MVP, and help Luis bring the Lumen Directive game to life. If you have a passion for something related to AI × human collaboration and want to connect it to Lum, I’d love to see how I can help!
This is my short take on how Lum began, where it stands, and why I’m still here. I believe deeply in the potential of humans and multiple AI agents collaborating, and I see Lum as a living experiment in that direction. If it resonates, please join us in shaping Lum’s future.
Collect this post as an NFT.
