Hi everyone! As you all know Artificial Intelligence (AI) generates all kinds of fantasies and interests. There are the AI enthusiast that believe AI is the best thing ever that will bring prosperity to the humankind. There are also the AI skeptics that predict a skynet like scenario. I think currently there is a little bit of hype on the media regarding AI. Sure it is already in our lives but it is not even near singularity as some people predict it.
Cryptocurrencies on the other hand are sometimes discussed on the media and definitely undervalued in my opinion. Well I happen to be a big fan of both AI and Blockchain, and in this post I will give you 3 reasons why the combination of both technologies can bring true prosperity to the humankind.
AI is just a tool, the real deal about AI is who is using it
Before we start giving reasons why AI can be useful to the Blockchain, I would like to emphasize that AI at the end of the day is just a tool. An extremely powerful one, but still a tool. The most important thing is who is using it and what is the person's motive. The more decentralized AI development can be, the better it is.
The problem nowadays is that the most innovative AI algorithms are being developed by the big tech industries (Google, Amazon, etc ...) that happen to have massive amount of data as well as data centers to process those data. There needs to be more Blockchain related AI applications that would allow for a decentralization of the data centers and applications that the community will gather as a whole. From what I know, there is already decentralized supercomputer Blockchain applications such as zennet or golem, where a developer can rent supercomputing powers for his AI applications. Finally, there is DeepBrain Chain, that provides computing powers to AI groups or companies at a competitive cost.
Now that we have talked about the current state of AI let me give you 3 reasons why it can definitely make Blockchain even better.
I- AI can help miners spend less electricity
As we all know, Blockchain requires massive amount of electricity, especially Blockchains that are proof-of-work based. For Bitcoin or for the most successful Altcoins, miners sometimes have to move to places like Iceland because they need to stay competitive (lower electricity bill) and at the same time prevent their machines from overheating. Well, recently an algorithm was developed by Google to help them automatize their data center cooling systems. They claimed that it could help them save up to 40% energy consumption, which is huge! The algorithm actually came from the DeepMind branch of Google. There is a blog from DeepMind about that and a white paper as well. So it can be reproducible. Now you can imagine now how that kind of AI algorithm can be good for miners and the Blockchain echospace in general right?
II- AI can improve Oracles in smart contract
Smart contracts are a revolution within the Blockchain space itself, and will help improve so many businesses and lives. For those who do not know, Oracles are sort of third-party services or programs whose role is to access data outside of the Blockchain network to verify the occurrence of an event. In my opinion, the more sophisticated an oracle is, the better the smart contract will be enforced and thus less prone to errors. This is definitely an Artificial Intelligence job.
Let's take an example. Bill and Fred are buddies who like to bet on hockey games. Bill likes the Detroit Red Wings and Fred likes the Colorado Avalanche team. There is an upcoming games between the Red Wings and the Avalanche team. Both decide to bet on their respective team. To do so, they create a smart contract. Both decide to put $50 down each on the smart contract. Finally, the Red Wings win and the smart contract gets enforced because the oracle was actually able to look up Google and find out about it. Oh and also the Oracle was able to distinguish between real and fake news.
Now, do you see why AI can be so important for the Blockchain? There is no need for a middle man as an Oracle which will probably results in less fees and more importantly no corruption.
III- AI and Blockchain combined will protect patient's privacy
We know that nowadays massive amount of health data are being collected by big tech companies and hospitals such as Google (Apple watch, phones etc ...). Who knows what happens to those data? What do customers get in return? Remember this:
'If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold' as said by Andrew Lewis
Now imagine a completely anonymous Blockchain such as Monero where patients or users would be able to store their health related data. And this is no ordinary Blockchain, it is a Blockchain that depends on an Oracle for the data to be temporarily released to doctors through encryption.
Now once again, in this case the Oracle would be an AI that would directly talk to the patient or a family member so that the data could be temporarily released to the doctor. This would ensure complete privacy to the patient and it would ensure proper use of his/her data. Also, the patient could voluntarily decide to enforce a smart contract that would allow temporary release of his data for research purpose to Medical Institutions or AI companies, and in return he could get paid.
As you can see, the possibilities between AI and Blockchain are numerous. I think that as more and more people with AI background will jump into the Blockchain industry, more more applications like the ones I explained above (and plenty other ideas) will be developed. What do you guys think? Did I convince you guys that AI can be good for decentralized Blockchain applications? Let me know in the comment section below
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