At the Ai4 2024 conference held from August 12 to 14 at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson gave a keynote speech focusing on the challenges of merging blockchain and AI. Romain Pellerin, CTO at Input Output, summarized the key points from Charles Hoskinson’s keynote speech 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 inferences, thus serving as a critical incentive and trust layer. “AI could use blockchain as an incentive and trust layer to build decentralized marketplaces for data, models, and inferences,” Pellerin quoted Hoskinson as saying.

During his speech, Hoskinson outlined the evolution of blockchain from “first to third generation” and highlighted the challenges and possible solutions. “The evolution of blockchain, from moving information to value, has faced obstacles in a multipolar world,” the Cardano founder noted.

Governance issues, particularly how decentralized technologies like blockchain and AI manage autonomy and control, were a key focus of Hoskinson’s talk. “Both blockchain and AI struggle with governance issues, particularly in decentralizing and disintermediating infrastructures, which poses parallel challenges for the industry,” Hoskinson said.

He pointed out the parallel challenges in both areas and underlined the need for innovative governance that facilitates decentralization while ensuring efficient management and integrity. “AI’s reliance on massive amounts of data and computing power poses challenges in data collection and sharing. Tokenization and incentives can provide solutions,” the Cardano founder said.

Hoskinson also touched on the significant challenges of data privacy within 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 went on to discuss the regulatory and philosophical challenges facing both technologies. 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 within AI contexts, such as royalty management and vehicle identification systems, were highlighted by Hoskinson as areas where blockchain can manage complex computations and enable new functionality. There are challenges, however. “The integration of AI and blockchain has been hampered by technical incompatibilities and the first-mover problem, but complementary solutions could emerge that address these challenges. Blockchain could secure data and reduce hacking incidents, thus addressing the neglected data economy in the West, which is now dominated by monopolies,” Hoskinson explained.

Summarizing Hoskinson’s keynote, Pellerin closed by reflecting on the technical and philosophical challenges of merging these powerful technologies. “Merging blockchain and AI presents significant challenges, but also opens up opportunities for innovation. From governance and data privacy to decentralized marketplaces and ethical concerns, the intersection of these technologies will require careful coordination and incentives to unlock their full potential.”

At the time of going to press, ADA was trading at $0.3382.

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