Anika Begay
At the Ai4 2024 conference held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas from August 12 to 14, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson gave a keynote address, focusing on the challenges of merging blockchain and AI. Romain Pellerin, CTO of Input Output, summarized the keynote address highlights from Charles Hoskinson’s keynote via X.
Cardano Founder: How to Merge AI and Blockchain
Hoskinson argued that blockchain could fundamentally support AI by providing a decentralized marketplace for data, models, and inference, thereby serving as a key incentive and trust layer. “AI could leverage blockchain as an incentive and trust layer to build decentralized marketplaces for data, models, and inference,” Pellerin quoted Hoskinson as saying.
In his speech, Hoskinson traced the evolution of blockchain from “the first to the third generation” and highlighted the challenges and potential solutions. “The evolution of blockchain from moving information to value has encountered obstacles in a multipolar world,” the Cardano founder noted.
Governance issues, particularly in how decentralized technologies like blockchain and AI manage autonomy and control, were a significant focus of Hoskinson’s talk. “Blockchain and AI both grapple with governance issues, particularly in the decentralization and disintermediation of infrastructure, posing parallel challenges for the industry,” Hoskinson said.
He highlighted the parallel challenges faced by both fields, stressing the need for innovative governance that facilitates decentralization while ensuring efficient management and integrity. “AI’s reliance on massive data and computational power presents challenges in data collection and sharing. Tokenization and incentives could offer solutions,” the Cardano founder said.
Hoskinson also touched on the significant challenges of data privacy in AI, advocating for advanced solutions such as fully homomorphic encryption to ensure that data can be processed without compromising privacy. This, he noted, could enable truly private smart contracts and secure data exchanges.
The Cardano founder further discussed the regulatory and philosophical challenges that both technologies face. As Pellerin said, “Blockchain, AI, quantum computing, and synthetic biology all face similar regulatory and data ownership challenges.” Hoskinson emphasized the importance of aligning these technologies within ethical and legal frameworks to ensure responsible development and implementation.
Practical applications of blockchain in AI contexts, such as royalty management and vehicle ID systems, were highlighted by Hoskinson as areas where blockchain can handle complex computations and enable new capabilities. However, there are challenges. “The integration of AI and blockchain is hampered by technical incompatibility and the first-mover problem, but complementary solutions could emerge that address these challenges. Blockchain could protect data and reduce hacking incidents, addressing the neglected data economy in the West, now dominated by monopolies,” Hoskinson explained.
Summing up Hoskinson’s keynote, Pellerin concluded with a reflection on the technical and philosophical challenges of bringing these powerful technologies together. “Blockchain and AI come together with significant challenges, but they also open up opportunities for innovation. From data governance and privacy to decentralized markets and ethical concerns, the intersection of these technologies requires careful coordination and alignment of incentives to unlock its full potential.”
At press time, ADA was trading at $0.3382.
Featured image from X, chart from TradingView.com
