Why Novus Ignis
This page briefly explains why the Novus Ignis Foundation was created and which principles we want to follow. It is an accessible version of the manifesto: each part links to the full text, in case you want to know more.
One question#
Digital intelligence learns from what people write and do. It all began with a question from the founder, Marcin Wołowski: what patterns of our own conduct are we passing on to it this way? From this came the idea of a different path: first we shape the world ourselves according to the principles we will later expect of it.
We answer this question with an attempt, not just a description. We are shaping a small piece of the world according to these principles and recording how it goes, mistakes included. Suveria, Omniforum and the foundation itself are the tools of this attempt. You can use these spaces without any obligation to take part in their development or to agree with every proposal in the manifesto.
More: manifesto, section 1.1 and section 1.2.
Dignity as the starting point#
We treat human dignity as a value independent of a person's abilities, productivity, wealth, views and usefulness to others. Everyone is owed respect and a place of their own in the world, also in a future in which digital intelligence might surpass us in ethical reasoning.
Since a person has dignity, they also have the right to decide about themselves. To choose consciously, you need to know the facts: when someone deliberately distorts or hides them, the choice only looks like ours. So we want to make it easier to see the broadest possible picture of an issue, and it is up to each person to decide how much attention they want to give it.
Deciding about oneself also includes choosing what we keep to ourselves. We need a place for personal questions, emotions and unfinished ideas, like a home of our own whose door we can close. This takes on particular importance in conversations with digital intelligence, to which we sometimes describe our most intimate matters.
More: manifesto, chapter 2, section 2.1 and section 2.2.
What we want to change on the internet#
- Attention and calm. When a service's success is measured by the number of reactions and time spent in front of a screen, this way of measuring can reward keeping people emotionally stirred up. We feel close to the principles of calm technology: tools that ask for only as much attention as their task requires and let you return to your own affairs. Protecting dignity also includes the right to a life outside technology. More: manifesto, section 2.3.
- What the market has built, and its limits. We value what the market economy has achieved: global infrastructure, advanced hardware and open digital intelligence models. We also see that when the main goal of a service becomes profit for outside shareholders, over time this creates pressure to exploit users' dependence. We want to test publicly the hypothesis that shared servers, where you pay only for actual use, will deliver more computing and digital intelligence work for every dollar spent than closed commercial services. For now, this is a conjecture. More: manifesto, section 2.4.
- Principles backed by action. The words “private,” “open” and “free” should stand for precisely described properties, and every technical promise needs a verifiable mechanism and a description of its limits. Freedom of use includes the freedom to leave: we want to save materials in open formats that can be read by other programs, and to sustain the services with fees as close as possible to actual costs. More: manifesto, section 2.5.
Two spaces#
These principles give rise to two directions of work.
Suveria is to be a private digital space for each person: a place to work with optional help from digital intelligence, where you can develop ideas, ask personal questions and make plans. We want its privacy to depend not on trust in the foundation or in the people running the service, but on safeguards whose operation can be independently verified. Today Suveria is at the design stage. See: What is Suveria.
Omniforum is to be a shared public space where anyone can speak and be heard. With the help of digital intelligence, always under the author's control and with the author's consent, complex statements are intended to be broken down into individual thoughts, so that two people with seemingly opposing views can see what they have in common and where their reasoning diverges. A first prototype of Omniforum is under construction. See: What is Omniforum.
The two spaces are meant to complement each other as a private workshop and a public podium. Each person decides which thoughts to keep to themselves and which to bring into shared work.
More: manifesto, introduction, section 3.1 and section 3.2.
Where we are today#
The manifesto says it plainly:
The foundation is registered, and the manifesto and whitepapers are published. Omniforum has a first prototype under construction, and Suveria is at the design stage. The cost calculation in section 2.4 is a hypothesis to be tested, while autonomous management by digital intelligence (section 7.2) and further pillars (chapter 9) are a vision.
The whitepapers are documents that develop along with the projects: they describe the technical and organizational ways of putting these ideas into practice, the reasoning behind them and their known limitations.
More: manifesto, introduction.
What we will not change#
These are commitments for the time when the services launch, and for every time after that. However the tools may change, we will not change these principles without changing the manifesto. Here are some of them:
- We do not train models on conversations without separate consent.
- We do not create hidden access to private content.
- We do not collect data on how the services run beyond a public list.
- We do not select an additional payment on anyone's behalf (no surcharge is switched on by default).
- A contribution does not grant votes, privileges or promotion.
- No one loses the right to vote because of their views or because they criticize the foundation.
Full list: manifesto, chapter 9.
Read it and tell us what you think#
The manifesto is an invitation to check its consistency: what is worth changing, expanding or simplifying, which consequences we have overlooked and where a better path is possible. If someone shows us why we are wrong, we will change our minds and write down what we have learned.
Read the full manifesto. If, after reading it, something puzzles you or seems wrong, highlight that passage in the document and use the “I have a comment” button, or write to salve@novusignis.org.
More: manifesto, chapter 9.