CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael Casey argues in his most recent Money Reimagined column that, rather than the monopoly defaulting structure of Web2, we need open-source innovation and collective governance made possible by blockchain protocols and Web3 if we are to avoid the potentially destructive effects of AI.
Prices
Following last week’s Shanghai upgrade on the Ethereum blockchain, Ether rose and reached an 11-month high.
Insights
According to CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael Casey, sufficiently decentralized ownership and control would prohibit any one party from controlling the development of AI.
For months, traders debated whether the price of Ether (ETH) would rise or fall after the Ethereum blockchain’s historic Shanghai upgrade.
As of right now: Following the first-ever permitting of cryptocurrency withdrawals via the blockchain’s staking mechanism last week, Ether’s price skyrocketed, bursting beyond $2,000 on renewed optimism that the upgrade’s success could spark a surge in growth and investor interest. It then rose, climbing on four of the previous five days until reaching a new 11-month high on Sunday at over $2,141. Currently, up 77% year to date, the price of ETH is quickly catching up to the 83% increase in Bitcoin (BTC) in 2023.
According to Sean Farrell, digital asset strategy’s head at FundStrat, last week, “the market’s pessimism over Ethereum staking withdrawals proved unwarranted.”
Decentralize to protect humanity: Web2’s AI Lesson
Coming from a guy without experience with machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) research, this will seem arrogant.
However, I must say that the recent alarmist call for a six-month halt or even a militarily enforced shutdown of AI research from those with experience, wealth, and power in the sector is based on some seriously flawed assumptions and will likely lead to the same disastrous outcome for humanity that we are trying to prevent. It is a particularly hazardous time since the U.S. government is concurrently organizing a crackdown on the crypto business, a field of open-source innovation that creates the kinds of cryptography and network coordination tools required to control AI threats.
Breaking the Monopoly: How Blockchain Can Help Avoid AI’s Dark Side?
These pessimists are computer scientists, not economic history majors. The possibility that an unchecked AI could evolve and exterminate everyone is not the problem in and of itself. (We know Hollywood has been teaching us this for decades.) No, the challenge is preventing AI economics from inherently encouraging that terrible outcome.
We must avoid letting centralized control over the inputs and outputs of AI devices limit our ability to work cooperatively for the good of all. We must develop software collectively and cooperatively to discover a computational remedy for these dystopian visions.
Conclusion
The soaring price of Ether indicates the promise of Web3 and blockchain technologies to save humans from AI dangers. Decentralization and community governance can foster open-source innovation and stop any one entity from influencing the development of AI. To find a computational solution to these apocalyptic visions, it is imperative to undermine Web2’s monopoly defaulting structure and collaborate on software development.