Research

Feb 22, 2024

What is Generative AI for Web3?

From the static, one-way communication of Web 1.0 to the dynamic, user-driven landscape of Web 2.0, the internet has undergone a remarkable transformation in the span of two decades. Now, as we stand on the brink of the Web 3.0 era, we're witnessing the dawn of something even more disruptive: the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into our digital world. This rapidly growing technology promises to redefine creativity, content creation, and interaction within the vast expanses of the internet. With generative AI's market projected to hit $60 billion by 2025, the highly developed combination of generative artificial intelligence with the decentralized capabilities of Web3 is expected to transform our online experience.


Deciphering the Mechanics of Generative AI

Understanding generative AI means examining how it allows machines to create diverse forms of content, such as text, images, sound, video, and code. This branch of AI uses complex neural networks to analyze vast datasets and enhance human creativity, making it a cornerstone of modern technological innovation.

Generative AI is propelled by foundation models, which are massive AI frameworks capable of performing multitask operations and executing non-standard tasks such as summarization, Q&A, classification, and more. These models require minimal training to be tailored for specific applications, even with limited sample data.

A significant leap in the field of generative AI has been made by pioneers such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, both developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT exemplifies the evolution of AI language models, crafted to generate text based on user inputs, thereby serving a broad spectrum of uses from customer support to content creation. Similarly, DALL-E opens new frontiers in digital art and design by generating images from textual descriptions, illustrating the expansive potential of generative AI.

The process of training generative AI models typically involves supervised learning, where the model is fed a dataset of human-created content alongside corresponding labels. It learns to emulate and create new content that mirrors the human-created examples and categorizes it in a similar manner. This capability extends beyond traditional AI by leveraging sophisticated neural networks like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), enabling the production of varied content types.

These advancements not only augment human creativity but also introduce new avenues for autonomous content generation, especially in the decentralized realm of Web3, thereby enriching the digital landscape with limitless possibilities.

Generative AI Within the Web3 Framework

Since generative AI for Web3 involves the fusion of generative artificial intelligence methods with the decentralized principles of Web3, here's a look at how this innovative technology works:

  1. Decentralized Data Processing: In regular AI systems, data processing often occurs on centralized servers, meaning that it's controlled by a single entity. In generative AI for Web3, data processing is decentralized, meaning it takes place across a network of nodes rather than relying on a single server. This enhances security by eliminating a single point of control and failure, as it aligns with the secure and decentralized nature of Web3.
  2. Blockchain Integration: Since Web3 utilizes blockchain as its underlying infrastructure, this integration guarantees that each stage of the AI content generation is documented on an open ledger. By serving as a reliable and immutable record, the blockchain strengthens trust and responsibility within the generative AI workflow.
  3. Smart Contracts for Governance: Smart contracts are self-executing agreements with predefined rules written in code. In the context of generative AI in Web3, smart contracts can distribute governance. Users collaborate and make decisions through these automated contracts, ensuring a free and transparent approach to managing the generative AI processes. This reduces the need for a single authority and fosters a more inclusive decision-making environment.
  4. Tokenization and Incentives: Web3 introduces tokenization, which refers to the process of converting a valuable asset into a digital token that is recorded on the blockchain. Generative AI processes can use tokens to boost user participation and contributions. Users receive tokens as rewards for validating content, maintaining the network, or actively participating in generative AI activities. This token-based ecosystem creates a direct incentive structure, encouraging user engagement and enhancing the overall efficiency of the generative AI system.

Use Cases

Generative AI offers an extensive range of applications for the Web3 ecosystem. Some notable use cases include:

Decentralized Content Creation

Generative AI in Web3 can be employed for decentralized content creation, spanning text, images, videos, and more. Users across the network can contribute to and validate content, fostering a collaborative and diverse digital environment.

NFT Generation and Marketplace

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be generated using generative AI algorithms, creating unique and rare digital assets. Web3 facilitates the creation of NFT marketplaces where these assets can be securely traded, bought and sold.

AI-Driven Governance

Generative AI, coupled with Web3's governance mechanisms, can be used for decentralized decision-making. AI algorithms may assist in analyzing proposals and contribute to the consensus-building process within a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Collaborative AI Development

Web3 platforms can leverage generative AI for collaborative AI development, allowing multiple users to contribute to the creation and improvement of AI models in a decentralized and permissionless manner.

Automated Code Generation

The use of generative AI in Web3 development has the potential to automate certain aspects of coding, providing support to developers in the creation of smarter and safer smart contracts, decentralized applications (DApps), and other elements related to blockchain technology.

Blockchain Gaming Development

Generative AI introduces groundbreaking opportunities in blockchain gaming development by enabling the dynamic creation of game assets, environments, and narratives. AI models can generate complex, interactive worlds and characters, adapting in real-time to players' actions and decisions, thus creating a more immersive gaming experience. AI-driven procedural content generation can produce limitless variations of quests, levels, and puzzles, ensuring that each player's journey is unique. By integrating these capabilities with Web3's transparent and secure infrastructure, developers can build decentralized games that offer true ownership of in-game assets, verifiable scarcity of items, and new economic models that reward players and creators alike.

Trailblazers Exploring Generative AI for Web3

Having considered the use cases of generative AI for Web3, here are the top Web3 platforms implementing this innovative technology:

  1. Decentraland: Decentraland, a virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain, is exploring the use of generative AI to enhance the creation and interaction with virtual assets and environments.
  2. SuperRare: SuperRare, an NFT art platform on the Ethereum blockchain, is leveraging generative AI to explore new possibilities in digital art creation and tokenized ownership.
  3. InQubeta: InQubeta is a contemporary AI and web3 cryptocurrency initiative that utilizes blockchain technology to link investors with start-up businesses in search of initial funding.
  4. Fetch.ai: Fetch.ai is a decentralized AI platform that combines machine learning and blockchain to empower independent agents to carry out tasks and engage in interactions online.
  5. Augur: Augur is based on a decentralized prediction market system that uses AI algorithms to improve the accuracy of forecasts and verify results for crypto, sports and world events.
  6. Nexo: With the use of AI and machine learning, Nexo operates as a cryptocurrency lending platform that assesses the creditworthiness of borrowers and maximizes profits for lenders.

What Lies Ahead for Web3 and Generative AI?

AI and Web3 have the potential to transform how we create, share, and control content on the internet. It not only alters the production and consumption of content but also alters the landscape of online influence.

The collaborative nature of Web3, paired with the imaginative capabilities of Generative AI, presents limitless prospects for advancement, inclusivity, and user empowerment.

As we navigate this evolving technological landscape, it is imperative to address ethical implications, safeguard privacy, and ensure equitable distribution. The implications of Generative AI in Web3 span various sectors, including entertainment and finance, making it a critical area of focus for future developments and observations.

About Chain

Chain is a blockchain infrastructure solution company that has been on a mission to enable a smarter and more connected economy since 2014. Chain offers builders in the Web3 industry services that help streamline the process of developing, and maintaining their blockchain infrastructures. Chain implements a SaaS model for its products that addresses the complexities of overall blockchain management. Chain offers a variety of products such as Ledger, Cloud, and NFTs as a service. Companies who choose to utilize Chain’s services will be able to free up resources for developers and cut costs so that clients can focus on their own products and customer experience. Learn more: https://chain.com.

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