Nye's Digital lab is a weekly scribble on creativity at the intersection of AI & distributed networks.

I think the meme of "the LEGO system" powers everything from your favorite apps, to the internet, to "whatever-the-heck global thing" we are building with AI.

This is part two of my special two-parter while I am on vacation!

So last time, we were talking about how LEGO bricks make everything click together. Remember that it's a beautiful and elegant system that binds the whole universe of lego together? Check it out here if you missed it. Anyway...

In the digital world, we have something equivalent: protocols.

These are the agreed-upon rules that let different technologies "talk to each other," just like LEGO's connection standard lets any brick work with any other brick.

When you send a text from an iPhone to an Android, when you upload a photo from your camera to Instagram, when you stream music from Spotify to your wireless headphones... all these seemingly simple actions work because of protocols.

If you go to your browser address line you will sometimes see http:// in front of the address. HTTP is the system that lets websites talk to browsers. It's free, and it's amazing, and you could argue we built the entire modern internet on it's existence.

But protocols exist everywhere: Bluetooth connects devices wirelessly, APIs let apps share data, and file formats like PDF ensure documents look the same everywhere. These digital protocols do exactly what LEGO's physical design does: create universal standards that let independent pieces work together seamlessly.

I believe you essentially have two choices for how to work in a protocol driven world:

The Walled Garden Approach

You agree to lock in. Companies like Apple or Adobe create amazing tools, but they work best within their own ecosystem. Final Cut Pro is fantastic for video editing, but it's designed primarily for other Apple software on Apple hardware. Photoshop is incredibly powerful, but your work stays within Adobe's file formats and subscription model. These tools are like premium LEGO sets in that they come with everything you need for a specific project, but mixing them with other systems can be challenging. This is mostly how we have been building our networks, because having a single company organize the specifics, has been the most profitable way to do it. (For the company)

The Open Playground

This is where tools like Blender (for 3D animation), GIMP (for photo editing), or Python programming languages, (or recently, open AI models) live and play. These tools are built on open standards, meaning anyone can see how they work, modify them, and create new tools that connect with them. It's like having access to the LEGO factory itself; you're not just using the bricks, you're helping design new ones.

When you add a protocol to connected nodes, the network effect kicks in. Every person who uses and improves the system makes it more valuable for everyone else.

I like using open source projects like O3DE, Linux, Android and Blender to make this point. They work because they are built on open code that anyone can contribute, the formatting rules are public, and all content can be freely shared and built upon. You deliberately make it open and modular, using recombinatory nodes, and then you license it under a Creative Commons license. Successful open source systems are designed for connection and growth. This is why Meta has released Llama open source, and Nvidia has released Isaac Sim the same. Open source is a community driven development strategy. ( *This just in, the US government is promoting open source use too.)

Neither approach is inherently "better," but understanding the difference shapes everything about how you create and collaborate. Are you joining a closed system to make a thing, or are you joining an open system to make parts that everyone can use?

So, think about this modularity and connectivity.

If this is an explosive way for software to be built, and the entire world is going to be empowered by AI to be lego maniacs, shouldn't you adapt your work to plug into the larger ecosystem?

Here are some thoughts about positioning yourself and your work.

Build for Remix

Instead of creating isolated pieces, design your work so others can build upon it. If you're making music, consider releasing stems or MIDI files. If you're creating visual art, think about making templates or brushes. If you're writing, develop frameworks that other writers can adapt. If you are making an environment in unreal, maybe make it into an asset pack, and sell it on the store, or share it in a community discord.

Choose Your Formats

Every time you save a file or choose a platform, you're making a decision about how connectable your work will be. Proprietary formats might offer more features today, but open formats ensure your work will still be accessible and usable in the future. It's like choosing between custom LEGO pieces that only work in one set versus standard bricks that work everywhere. Keep an eye out for licensing innovation. There is going to be some way that we track and value our digital goods --- I know it. I just don't know exactly how, or when it will show up.

Contribute to Community Initiatives

The most successful creators in open systems aren't just consumers, they're contributors and builders. Writing documentation for a library, or making a youtube is also incredibly valuable to the community. This might mean sharing techniques, creating tutorials, reporting software bugs, or helping others in online communities. Every contribution makes the entire system more valuable. That's why Blender blew up, everyone could go online and do the donut from the Blender Guru. Education is the binding force in open source projects.

As opposed to traditional media distribution, redistributing digital media on the Internet can be cheap and often times, free. I will hold back my desire to jump into smart contracts and composability here, and I'll leave it for another time. My hope is that if you get what I am driving at, and maybe squint a little bit, you can start to see the modular future of open and global software development I think we are headed to.

So I started this two parter with the analogy of LEGO and the system that literally holds it together. I'm ending it all by making the point that we're living through a global modular optimization of our software systems.

AI will accelerate this trend. I'm pretty convinced at this point.

This doesn't mean abandoning your unique creative voice. Your distinctive perspective becomes even more valuable. If you push the boundaries, but still do it within the bounds (or protocols) of the system, you not only make innovation for the community, but collectively raise us all to your new standard.

Just as LEGO discovered that constraints don't limit creativity but amplify it, the digital world is showing us that open standards don't restrict innovation, they really do unleash it. When everyone agrees on the basic rules of connection, we're free to focus on what really matters: the infinite possibilities those connections create.

Composable digital bricks, tools and frameworks are increasingly everywhere. It's up to you to start grabbing them and putting them together.

Aaaaand... that's the end of my vacation two-parter. I'll be back at it again next week. If you vibe to the ideas I express, please consider subscribing or sharing with friends. Thanks for reading. We'll see you next time.

Nye Warburton is a system thinker and educator spending his summer playing with AI. This essay was improvised with Otter.ai, and then experimentally written, generated and played with using a variety of LLM platforms. Images done with Stable Diffusion.

For more information visit: https://nyewarburton.com

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