According to a recent blog post from Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, the recent advancements in AI can have some drastic consequences for humanity.
Buterin specifically states that "superintelligent AI" may one day surpass humans as the next "apex species".
Let's see some of the arguments for and against AI, inside and outside the crypto space.
The blog post came attached to a tweet from Buterin sometime this week.
In the tweet, Buterin argued that in a way, AI is very different from everything else that humans have created.
In particular, this technology has the power to think for itself. This inherent ability of AI means that bots can potentially create ideas that are vastly different from human interests, and may one day take action against us.
Buterin went further to cite a survey. The results of this survey showed that there is a 5-10% chance that AI will destroy humanity.
This potential future became even more scary when Buterin added that Mars may not even be safe for humans, against AI's wrath.
Unlike Nuclear warfare, climate change or virus outbreaks, AI can potentially end the human race, and leave no survivors.
Buterin says that this future can be avoided in several ways, including creating what is known as "brain-computer interfaces", better known as BCIs.
BCIs will be designed to offer humans more control over powerful forms of AI. In essence, the human mind will become upgradeable and compatible with the powers of AI.
Buterin says that humans have to be more intentional about developing AI in a way that benefits humanity.
Aside from the dark picture of the future that Buterin painted, AI has been one of the most influential bits of technology that humans have created in the last century.
AI is now being used in banking, education, manufacturing, medicine (such as how AI was used to create a COVID-19 vaccine), and of course, blockchain technology.
This leads us to how Ethereum fits into all of this.
Over the last decade, blockchain and AI technology have been one of the frontrunners of human innovation.
Both of these forms of technology have their strengths and weaknesses, and there are certain ways in which both can complement one another.
For example, blockchain technology can provide AI with a decentralized, transparent, and secure platform to run and verify its algorithms.
In return, AI can provide blockchains like Ethereum with enhanced scalability and even intelligence, when it comes to verifying transactions.
Decentralized applications (Dapps) can now become smarter, and smart contracts can become more secure
The integration between AI and blockchains, particularly Ethereum, is already in development.
There are already several growing projects on the network, including some like
Arbitrum uses AI and machine learning to boost throughput and lower its transaction costs.
Others include Aptos, with its partnership with Microsoft. Aptos has combined AI and blockchain technology to create a new chatbot called Aptos Assistant. The Aptos assistant is capable of answering user questions about the Aptos ecosystem and providing resources to developers.
Finally, we have The Graph, a decentralized protocol that developers use in indexing and querying data from blockchains.
The Graph uses AI to improve the quality and relevance of its data, and to provide insights and analytics to its users.
In essence, Buterin mentions in his blog post, that humans are the brightest star in the universe, and that we have the technology to expand upon our potential.
Ethereum and AI are two of the technologies that can help us achieve that vision, and the community is excited to see what they can do together as AI becomes more "superintelligent".
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