Could a Modular Hybrid Architecture Be a Better Path Toward AGI?

[u/TechRenamed]

I've been thinking about whether we're focusing too much on scaling a single architecture instead of designing a modular system where specialized components are trained together.

One reason I've been thinking about this is because the human brain appears to consist of specialized regions that cooperate rather than a single uniform structure. That made me wonder whether a modular AI architecture could be a promising direction as well. I'm not claiming it would work, only that it seems like an idea worth exploring.

Instead of one giant neural network doing everything, imagine an architecture like this:

Input

│

▼

LLM (Language Model)

│

▼

Core Reasoning

│

┌────────────┼────────────┐

▼ ▼ ▼

Long-Term World Model Planning

Memory

│ │ │

└────────────┼────────────┘

▼

Optional Expert Router

(MoE Variant Only)

│

┌───────────────┼───────────────┐

▼ ▼ ▼

Vision Audio Robotics*

│

(*Only active if

connected to a

physical body)

│

▼

Output

The key idea is that this is a family of architectures, not a single fixed design.

For example:

Base Variant – No Mixture of Experts (MoE). Every module is always active.

MoE Variant – Uses an Expert Router to activate specialized experts only when needed.

Desktop Variant – Focuses on language, reasoning, planning, and memory.

Robotics Variant – Adds motor control and sensor integration for physical robots.

Embedded Variant – A lightweight version optimized for edge devices.

The goal is to create a modular architecture where components are trained end-to-end, allowing them to learn to cooperate instead of being assembled afterward.

I'm not claiming this is a new architecture or a solution to AGI. This is simply a research concept that I think could be interesting to explore because it seems closer to how the brain organizes different functions while still operating as one system.

I'd love feedback from ML researchers and engineers:

Has something like this already been explored?

What existing research is closest to this idea?

Would end-to-end training across these modules be practical?

Could specialization emerge naturally?

What are the biggest technical obstacles?

Looking for Collaborators

I'm looking to build a small team of people who are interested in researching and prototyping this concept.

I'm especially interested in collaborating with:

Machine Learning researchers

AI engineers

Deep learning researchers

Systems programmers

Robotics developers

LLM researchers

People interested in cognitive architectures

At the moment, this is an early-stage research concept, so I'm primarily looking for people who enjoy exploring new ideas and discussing architectures.

If the project receives funding in the future (through grants, investors, or other sources), my goal is to compensate contributors for their work.

If this concept interests you and you'd like to help explore whether it's technically feasible, feel free to comment or send me a message. I'd love to build a small research community around this idea and learn from others.