By George Ward
Industry leaders and observers warn that the concentration of AI development within large corporations could undermine the open web and stifle the decentralized ethos that Web3 champions.
Concerns Over Corporate-Controlled AI
Chris Donovan, the chief operating officer of the Near Foundation, sees the centralized control of AI as a significant threat. He emphasizes the necessity of an irrevocably open environment for AI development to ensure the realization of an open web and adds that the open web may never come to fruition without such an environment.
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder and CEO of the Near Foundation, echoes similar concerns. He described the current trend of AI development as being strongly incentivized to maximize revenue.
Antagonistic Corporate Incentives
Polosukhin explained that companies like Google and Facebook, having dominated the market, are now focused on increasing revenue per user. Hence, they develop AI that maximizes user engagement, often at the cost of user autonomy and open access.
By drawing users into closed-loop systems, these corporations effectively create silos that limit users’ choices. He likens this to a dystopian future where users are confined to corporate-controlled operating systems or social networks, unable to access independent sources of information.
This scenario is reminiscent of past anti-competitive practices by major tech companies, such as Microsoft’s efforts to monopolize the web browser market in the early 2000s. Despite regulatory interventions, such practices persist, and AI now exacerbates them.
Amplifying Social Media’s Ills
Donovan and Polosukhin also highlight the potential for AI to worsen social media’s negative aspects. According to them, current platforms incentivize attention and engagement over quality information, leading to political polarization, erosion of trust in institutions, and the spread of misinformation.
Polosukhin predicts that large tech platforms will increasingly seek to provide information directly, reducing the need for users to visit third-party sources. He argued that this shift could undermine the independence of the media and diminish the diversity of viewpoints and the freedom of news sources. He added that another consequence is that publications receive less traffic and revenue from search engines like Google.
Web 3 Experts at Odd Over Celebrity Token Frenzy
The cryptocurrency world is abuzz with the latest trend: celebrity-backed tokens. However, these tokens, often branded with the image of famous personalities, have polarized opinions regarding their impact on the crypto space.
Meanwhile, Solo Ceesay, co-founder and CEO of social wallet Galaxy, noted that celebrities’ familiar faces can simplify the complex concept of Web3 for newcomers. Ceesay envisions a future where celebrity tokens become a meaningful asset class, provided they offer genuine use cases.
Supporting this view, KuCoin representatives highlight celebrity tokens’ low entry barriers as an attractive feature for new investors. However, they caution against the risks associated with the hype-driven nature of these tokens, urging investors to conduct thorough research before diving in.
Opposing Celebrity Tokens
In contrast, Matt Wright, CEO of decentralized AI firm GaiaNet, dismissed celebrity tokens as mere influencer marketing schemes that distract from blockchain’s real potential. Wright argued that the focus on celebrity endorsements misrepresents the true value of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Similarly, Andreas Brekken, CEO of trading platform SideShift.ai, described celebrity tokens as short-lived pump-and-dump schemes, predicting that most will quickly lose value. Brekken opined that these tokens are often associated with celebrities trying to capitalize on their diminishing fame.
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