Artificial Intelligence in Web3

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the lips of every person right now, as this technological advancement has provided numerous solutions and made tasks much simpler. From writing your essay homework to auto-piloting an aircraft, AI is that piece of technology that makes you feel like Iron Man.

AI has existed for a long time but only came into the limelight recently with the emergence of software applications like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and so on. AI has become so advanced that we now have software that can write good music, identify images,mimic voices and personalities, analyze financial records, and solve complex equations, amongst others.

Since AI has proven to be a large-scale problem solver, Web3 folks have wondered how it can be of help in decentralization, scalability, and trustlessness. Today we will take a dive into the roles and effects of AI technology in Web 3.0.

• History of Web 3.0
• What is AI?
• How the integration of AI can be game-changing
• Setbacks of AI
• The Future of AI in Web3

History of Web 3.0

Web 3.0, also known as the semantic web or the decentralized web, is the next evolution of the internet, where the internet is totally decentralized, secure, and anonymous in nature through the utilization of smart contracts, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Web3 allows for decentralized finance (De-Fi), a system in which money is not controlled by a central authority. Web3 has done this by providing numerous solutions to the problems associated with the traditional banking systems, including censorship, mismanagement of funds, and regulatory risks. DEXs, or decentralized exchanges, enable this mode of financing.

Web 3.0 has numerous advantages over Web 2.0 in that it is interoperable, decentralized, utilizes smart contracts, and uses linked data.

Before taking a step further, let’s have some insights on the meaning of the terms aforementioned.

• Smart contract: A smart contract is a self-executing contract in which the terms and conditions of agreement between parties are written into code, enabling machines to execute trustless, automated, and error-free transactions.
• Linked data: In Web3, all data is connected and understood by machines, which allows for intelligent processing and data analysis.
• Interoperability: Different systems are able to communicate with each other across different platforms and protocols.
• Blockchain: The blockchain is a distributed and decentralized digital network or ledger that records transactions across multiple computers. Each transaction is added as a ‘block’ to a ‘chain’ of transactions. This technology allows processed data (transactions, tokens, messages, and files) to be immutable, transparent, and secure.
• Decentralization: Data is stored on decentralized systems across the blockchain; in this way, it cannot be altered, censored or breached. It prevents data access to a central authority.

The internet kicked off in the 1990s as Web 1.o, a stage that only allowed users to read content. There was very limited information, and it was focused on providing information to end-users. Web 1.0 consisted of only computers; no mobile devices were integrated into Web 1.0.

Web 2.0 emerged in the early 2000s, when websites became interactive and there was an open-ended approach to information. With this approach came social media, social networks, and online forums. Web 2.0 was dominated by mobile devices.

Web 3.0 is still in development, and there is already a wave of mass adoption.

What is AI?

The general population underestimates the complexity of artificial intelligence. It is actually a combination of various sophisticated systems like machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.

AI can be defined as the simulation of human intelligence in machines and computer systems. It is developed in such a manner that it can perform intelligent human functions like decision-making, problem solving, analysis and more. AI does this by learning, understanding language, and making intelligent analyses to solve problems and make decisions.

Before proceeding, it would be best to understand the various sub-fields that make AI powerful and efficient, which are:

• Machine learning: Computers analyze algorithms and statistical models and use the information to make future decisions and predictions. Computers become ‘smarter’ over time, and they do not make pre-programmed decisions.
• Natural language processing: This enables interaction between human language and computers. Computers take a shift from the traditional ‘1s and 0s’ to understanding languages like Spanish and Chinese—even with contexts and intonations.
• Computer vision: This branch of artificial intelligence enables computers to interpret, process and understand visual information from videos and images. Analyses from these graphics will allow computers to identify objects, patterns and faces.

These sub-fields have allowed AI to perform complex tasks, including intelligent search (yielding accurate results), personalization as a result of analyzing user preferences, content creation, and the writing of smart contracts.

Role of Artificial Intelligence in Web 3.

The abilities of AI can be put to good use in Web 3. Some of these advantages are:

• Increased output and efficiency: AI yields better results for users owing to the interconnected and intereporable data across the blockchain. AI can use this data to provide accurate information for users.
• Data analysis: Abundance and access to data can allow AI to make good decisions and recognize irregularities. This is quite important for DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), where AI makes the best decisions to favor members of a DAO. A DAO is an organization in which decision-making is completely decentralized and transparent. Decisions are taken when members vote on the blockchain.
• Improved security and privacy: AI can assist machines in executing trustless transactions by using data analysis to recognize irregularities.
• Improved scalability: AI optimizes tasks on the blockchain and puts less work on machines; this can result in cheaper gas fees and faster transaction times.
• Smart contract optimization: AI can be integrated into smart contracts to ensure they are efficient and error-free through risk analyses, volatility and dynamic pricing.

There are a few setbacks to the use of AI in Web3, and these must be addressed for the objectives of Web3 to be realized. The most important of these setbacks is the fear of data privacy, as AI needs a lot of data in order to make accurate decisions. Full-scale decentralized access to personal information must come into place to maintain anonymity.

The exposure of intelligent self-thinking machines to personal data is considered unethical by the populace, as they fear it can be used to target individuals and demographics.

As regards hardware, artificial intelligence consumes a lot of computational power, and it is difficult to manage the large amount of data required by AI in a decentralized fashion.

The Future of AI in Web 3.0

Numerous projects have begun working on the integration of AI into Web 3. Some of these projects include AICOIN, Crypto Index, SingularityNET, and MATRIX.

Web 3.0 is the future and AI will revolutionize it by making it more efficient, secure, and accurate.