This article is partially adapted from a talk given by Artem Grigor from the Aragon ZK Research Guild. The two technologies at the forefront of innovation could come together for incredible synergistic potential. Cryptocurrencies on the blockchain give AI actors a way to natively access financial value. As Serotonin wrote in a newsletter, “crypto x AI looks like digitally native actors (AI) acting on digitally native value (blockchain).” That’s a powerful, but potentially risky, combination. The use cases for crypto on the blockchain are very exciting, but also come with many risks that we need to plan ahead for. In this article we will cover: AI use cases on the blockchain Understanding the risks of bringing AI on the blockchain Bridging AI and the blockchain: making those use cases happen safely Let’s dive in!
AI use cases on the blockchain
Use cases of AI and blockchain synergies range from applications already in use today—like auto-generated governance summaries for DAO members—to distant-future ideas like the blockchain verifying whether content is AI-generated or not. They range from blockchain solving AI-created problems—like counteracting fake content with cryptographic digital signatures—to AI solving blockchain-created problems, like AI auditing smart contract code. Let’s break the use cases into the following categories:
Smarter contracts:
AI enhancing our contracts to do more than they could with humans designing them.
Done-for-you governance:
AI as your personal delegate, managing things like votes and providing governance summaries.
Security:
AI making our contracts more secure with more frequent and more advanced auditing.
Fake content:
Using the blockchain to verify content, so it’s easier to see which content is fake/AI-generated.
Smarter Contracts
AI enhancing our contracts to do more than they could with humans designing them.
Action Automation – easier user interactions
Right now, you have to be a developer to interact with smart contracts on a deep level. Unless a UI is built out with clear input parameters, it can be hard to interact with contracts. And there aren’t many Solidity developers right now, and the majority are concentrated in the U.S. or English-speaking areas, leaving out users in much of the rest of the world. AI could be the unlock to help users without a background in web3 development perform much more advanced interactions with contracts.
Smart Game NPCs – engaging gameplay
A Nonplayable character, or NPC, is a character encountered while playing a game that performs a certain action. They might give you a hint to help you move further in the game, or they might not do much at all and populate the background of a scene. Nonplayable characters have become a meme because they do the same thing over and over, no matter what. They never break out of NPC-mode because they can’t—they’re stuck repeating what they were programmed to do from the outset.
AI gives NPCs the ability to break free—and even adapt to the player to make the game more fun.
AutoTrading Bots — Make trades for you
Bots and AI-enabled trading tools are used widely in the traditional finance world, and are the main driver behind the MEV gold rush, because the transactions required are far too fast and advanced for a human to perform them alone.
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