Can InfoFAI Actually Fix The Attention Economy?

"The currency of life isn’t money. It’s not even time. It’s attention." — Naval Ravikant

This is how Kaito AI’s whitepaper begins. And I believe there couldn't have been a better start to it. We live in an age where information is abundant, but our ability to discern its value is deteriorating. The rise of generative AI has made content production almost effortless, flooding our feeds with endless noise. Despite this abundance, the attention economy remains deeply flawed. Platforms extract the bulk of the value while creators and users (who actually drive engagement) are left out of the equation.

The internet was supposed to democratize access to information. Instead, it has become an algorithmic arms race where engagement is manipulated and discovery is dictated by profit-driven platforms. But can this broken model actually be fixed? And does InfoFAI (InfoFi + AI = a term I just came up with), the idea of financializing information markets, really offer a solution (or is it just another layer of speculation)?

Right now, centralized platforms control the flow of attention and extract maximum value from it. The problems are clear:

1. Creators provide content, yet they receive only a small fraction of the revenue their work generates.
2. Users contribute their time and data for free, fueling the engagement economy without compensation.
3. Brands pay inflated advertising fees with limited transparency or guaranteed impact.

This power imbalance creates a system where platforms (not participants) capture the most value. It’s an exploitative cycle that benefits a handful of tech giants while leaving the broader ecosystem struggling for sustainability.

InfoFAI: Another Buzzword?

InfoFAI is built on the premise that market forces should dictate attention distribution rather than opaque algorithms. At a glance, this makes sense: markets tend to optimize for efficiency, rewarding content that holds real value rather than what simply gamifies engagement.

But does this actually solve the problem?

1. Inefficiency Still Exists - While market-based systems claim to reduce algorithmic bias, they can still reinforce existing inequalities. Those with money or influence can manipulate market-based attention allocation just as they do in today’s model.
2. Unfairness Persists - If InfoFAI relies on tokenized attention, who controls those tokens? If early adopters or well-funded players dominate, it risks replicating the same gatekeeping structures we already see in Web2.

Prediction markets like Polymarket have demonstrated some success in aggregating public insight, but translating this into an equitable distribution of attention remains an open question.

A Savior or Just More Noise?

One of the biggest hurdles for InfoFAI is the long-tail problem: while people have strong opinions on major events (like elections), they struggle to form markets around niche topics. AI is touted as the solution to this problem - by analyzing and structuring vast amounts of data, it can help quantify what is otherwise hard to measure.

But AI isn’t a magic fix. It still faces significant limitations:

1. Bias in Training Data - AI models are only as good as their inputs, and if they are trained on skewed or low-quality data, they can reinforce misinformation rather than combat it.
2. Over-Reliance on Black-Box Systems - If AI is the key to organizing information, but its logic is hidden behind proprietary models, then we’re still at the mercy of centralized decision-making.
3. Tokenizing Attention is Risky - Transforming attention into a tradeable asset might just create a new speculative market where hype, rather than genuine value, dictates success.

A Step Forward, But Not Without Flaws

Kaito is among the players pushing AI-powered InfoFi as the solution. Their network aims to redistribute value more fairly, but does it truly escape the pitfalls of centralized control?

Kaito Pro positions itself as the Google of crypto, but even that premise raises concerns. Search engines already have enormous power over information access - do we really want to replicate that in a new form, just with AI and blockchain added?

The idea of quantifying engagement through AI-driven tokenization is intriguing but also fraught with problems. Who decides which attention signals matter? If influence is determined by an algorithm, isn’t that just another black-box system controlling visibility? And if attention tokens become tradeable, how long before the system is overrun by bots and market manipulation?

Kaito Connect’s vision of an open, decentralized information economy is ambitious. But the core challenges of decentralization (governance, power concentration, and economic sustainability) still loom large. If early participants or well-funded players can manipulate the system, we could end up with a different flavor of the same problem we face today.

Where We’re Really Headed

The evolution of information flow can be broken down into three stages:

1. Disorganized Information (The Past) - A chaotic landscape where information is fragmented and unstructured.
2. AI-Powered Curation (Today) - AI helps organize information, but platforms still control access.
3. AI-Powered InfoFi (The Future?) - A theoretical system where AI structures information and markets and distributes attention fairly (if it works).

The real question though: can we build a system that isn’t just a new power structure wearing a decentralized mask?

The Hard Truth About Attention Markets

The attention economy is broken, and solutions like InfoFAI offer compelling alternatives. But let’s not be naive: decentralization alone doesn’t guarantee fairness. Without thoughtful design, AI-powered attention markets could easily become a new playground for speculation, manipulation, and wealth concentration.

To truly fix the system, we need:

1. Transparency - AI models and market mechanisms must be auditable and open.
2. Equitable Access - If early adopters or whales dominate tokenized attention, we’re back to square one.
3. Resilience Against Manipulation - We need safeguards to prevent gaming of the system by bots, financialized hype, or bad actors.

So, does InfoFAI hold the key to a better attention economy? Maybe. But the real battle is just beginning.