In my articles, I often try to distinguish between Web3 and Web 3.0. While I most default to Web 3.0, it is important to understand the distinction. At the same time, it helps to clarify the framework of where things might be heading.
Web3 was coined by Gavin Wood, one of the co-founders of Ethereum. This basically means we are dealing with blockchain and cryptocurrency. Simply consider the Ethereum network along with what that entails, including smart contracts.
To contrast, Web 3.0 is much larger. This does include Web3, so that is why there is some interchangeability between the terms in my opinion.
However, it doesn's stop there. Web 3.0 also can include:
- robotics
- AI
- bio-tech
- nanotechnology
- quantum computing
- renewable energy
- mixed reality
As we can see, a host of technologies are converging. It is also evident that we do not have an exact picture since many of these are still in early stages of development. In short, we do not know if they will even pan out and, if they do, how they will look.
The point is we are dealing with the next evolution of humanity. Web 3.0 is the advancement of both the digital and physical worlds while blending them together.
For the moment, we will focus upon the AI race, an important component for Web 3.0.
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The Great AI Race
It is hard to not find something posted about AI. This is all over the news. If nothing else, we see the debates of whether this is a bubble or overhyped.
My suggestion is to ignore the noise. Even if these are true, it does not diminish what is coming out. AI, specifically generative AI, is going to transform society completely. It is a new form of computing that will revolutionize most industries.
For that reason, big money is flowing into a race that expect enormous payouts. This is dominated by Big Tech since they tend to have the resources, both human and capital, to move in this direction.
The perceived leader was OpenAi. This is one, however, that some are thinking is a dumpster fire. We see a great deal of controversy around the company, including many of the early builders leaving. Is this a sign of trouble? Only time will tell. Perhaps it is nothing more than a transition period.
That said, OpenAI is still a start up. It is competing against the better funded likes of Google, Meta, and even Elon Musk. No matter how much is raised, they are still dependent upon others giving them money.
We are witnessing consistent rollouts of new models. With each generation, the leader, according to those reviewing, keeps changing. Naturally, there is some debate among the different users but it is certain that many companies are advancing with each interation.
It is also prudent to remember this is only one piece of the AI puzzle. There are many other areas, less publicized, that have the same battles going on.
There is potentially trillions of dollars at stake and many want a piece of it.
Convergence
One of the things we see is companies starting to implement this technology into many facets of the business.
When looking at digital platforms, we see how this is the case for Microsoft, Meta, and Google. While the results are mixed in the early stages, there is little doubt we are moving towards a time when AI will be mixed into every online platform.
We can think of it as a website without the ability to add photos. How would that compare with the rest of the Internet?
As technologies converge, we often see a massive explosion. The best example in recent memory is the smartphone which brought compute, the Internet, and mobile into one device. With this, the results speak for themselves.
The crypto world is only starting to embrace this.
Recently, AI coins garnered a lot of attention. Unfortunately, focusing upon market activity is often misleading. There is valid reason to look into these projects, if for no other reason than to see what development is taking place. The likes of SingularityNet have been developing a permissionless AI platform for a number of years. This holds some potential in the battle for open source, decentralized AI.
These technologies have the ability to revolutionize blockchain and cryptocurrency. They can enhance what is already under construction.
When we drill down to some of the basics, what does blockchain offer?
To start, we have a different database system. This is permissionless meaning anyone can write to it. At the same time, the data is unowned by any entity, meaning it can be accessed by anyone.
Blockchain, via tokenization, also provides a completely new business structure. We can see how the move away from the traditional corporation to the DAO format can occur. This could have profound implications on AI.
Exponential Advancement
How will robots interact with blockchain? Will they?
These are some of the potentialities we have to think about.
When looking at the progress of the different technologies, how will they be incorporated into the other ones. This is where we see exponential advancement occurring.
For example, if we move to the point where there are 500 million robots in operation, basically a large population country, who will own them? How will the benefits of economic productivity be distributed? What will fund the purchase?
Naturally, the early implementations will be corporations. That said, as blockchain (and tokenization) advance, what does this look like?
That means that each advancement, within any individual technology, will have an impact upon Web 3.0. This feeds into my theory that blockchain is enhanced since it will be a fundamental part of this transition. Our future is tokenization simply because that is currency native to the Internet. This means that computers can interact with it without human intervention. It also requires no outside institutions getting involved.
Web3 is technology. It is still driven, to a large degree, by developers. This is not going to change anytime soon. In fact, development is becoming even more important.
Complex Organisms
Web 3.0 is a complex organism. It is artificial but, in many ways, follows the same pathway is biological ones. The difference is the speed.
To frame it a bit different, the Internet itself falls under this category. There is no overlord (although it often seems that way). The expansion is the result of billions of decisions made daily. Someone decides to make a video. Another buys another computer. A developer released a new application while a company enhances its existing platform.
This is a system of billions of unrelated stakeholders who take action each day based upon personal desires, needs, or requirements. All of this generates more. This can be data, compute, storage, or data structure. Whatever the contribution, it simply helps things to grow.
Users. Transaction. Nodes. Compute. Bandwidth.
All expanded compared to where they were a decade ago. Actually, all likely grew since yesterday.
Then we couple in the advancements in some of the fields mentioned about. That is feeding into the next generation of society, something we will simply capture under the Web 3.0 concept.
AI is getting the most attention and likely the easiest to follow with regards to the progress. This will end up feeding into Web 3.0 in a larger way. That said, we cannot overlook the other factors.