Interview: Revolutionary developments at the interface of AI and blockchain

Chris Donovan from NEAR Foundation talks about the exciting developments in the NEAR ecosystem and how AI and blockchain are working together to shape the future of the open web. Discover the vision and challenges of this disruptive technology.

Today, we have somebody from the NEAR Foundation with us. To kick things off, Chris, can you introduce yourself and explain your role you have at NEAR?
I'm Chris Donovan, the Chief Operating Officer at the NEAR Foundation, and I also previously served as the foundation’s General Counsel. My background lies in law and Web3 technology, including several years as a partner at Outlier Ventures. I have been with NEAR for almost two years, passionately supporting our Open Web mission, and the many high-quality projects building across the NEAR ecosystem and other ecosystems.

To set the stage, can you give us a quick overview of NEAR?
NEAR is an ecosystem of open permissionless infrastructure, public goods, projects and communities (including founders and developers); and at the heart of all this is the NEAR protocol itself. The NEAR Foundation, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, is a regulated non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering the growth and evolution of the NEAR protocol and its ecosystem. Meanwhile, the NEAR protocol stands as a sharded layer 1 blockchain, accompanied by a diverse stack of technology components. This ecosystem has flourished, boasting three of the world's largest decentralised applications (dApps) currently operational on the NEAR protocol.

NEAR is known to be at the forefront and intersection of AI and blockchain. Why is this? 
Illia Polosukhin, one of the protocol's co-founders and the current CEO of the foundation, brings to the table a very robust background in AI and research. Notably, he co-authored "Attention is All You Need", a seminal paper that introduced the transformer model, a cornerstone technology fuelling advanced large language models (LLMs) today. With NEAR's origins rooted in AI, Polosukhin and co-founder Alex Skidanov pivoted towards blockchain, amalgamating their expertise and vision to pioneer innovative solutions at the intersection between these two dynamic fields.

Why did they venture into the field of blockchains as well?
Their exploration into blockchain originated from a practical realisation: Illia and Alex noticed that there are big hurdles to be overcome in efficiently funding crowdsourced data labelling for AI models. Seeing the limitations of Web2 technology for such tasks, they realised that blockchain technology offers a viable solution. This led to the inception of the NEAR protocol. Through extensive research and collaboration, they amalgamated the best elements from various layer 1 blockchain ecosystems and combined them in the NEAR protocol.

AI and blockchains have both been hot topics recently. How can blockchains benefit AI and vice versa?
Both AI and blockchain are not just complementary, but also interdependent. Their integration is essential for a few reasons.

What are these reasons? 
The primary reason, which aligns with our organisational mission, is to foster the establishment of an open web.

Can you explain what the open web is and how it contrasts to today’s web? 
The concept of the open web revolves around granting individual users ownership of their data and assets, as well as providing them with opportunities to engage in platform governance. This stands in stark contrast to the closed nature of today's web, often referred to as Web2, where users typically lack ownership of their data and assets, and have little to no say in platform governance. 

What is so problematic about today’s closed web?  
Today’s closed model, driven primarily by profit and attention optimisation, has led to adverse outcomes such as misinformation, disinformation, polarisation and wealth inequality. The open web seeks to address these issues by prioritising factors like information quality, interaction quality and truthfulness, thereby fostering a more equitable and transparent online environment.

Where do AI and blockchains enter the picture now?
AI is already increasingly integrated into today's web and is poised to become even more deeply integrated in the future. Therefore, we advocate for AI development to occur within an irreversibly open paradigm. Currently, there are very few significant players in the AI development sphere that can claim to be fully open in their practices.

Well, incentives are pushing AI development in that direction. 
Indeed. Even projects initially committed to openness often encounter financial realities. Securing the necessary funding to develop and bring AI models to market requires substantial resources. Investors seeking returns on their investment may demand proprietary strategies and profit-generation plans. Consequently, projects may revert to closed models, perpetuating the issues associated with the closed funding model (optimising for profit and attention).

In your view, it is blockchain technology that can change this?
Absolutely. Web3 serves as a robust infrastructure for constructing an economy and incentive system that upholds openness. Blockchain technology, in particular, has the potential to not only preserve openness, but also establish an economy that sustains it over time.

What is yet another reason to innovate at the intersection of AI and blockchains?
Another compelling reason lies in addressing the challenges of information integrity online. With the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, verifying the credibility of sources is becoming increasingly difficult. This problem is exacerbated by AI models capable of generating and disseminating content at scale. Implementing blockchain-based authentication offers a potent solution. By integrating a blockchain-powered reputation system, we can effectively track, trace and evaluate the reliability of information sources in real-time. This approach has the potential to enhance the resilience of our infrastructure, democratic systems and traditional financial frameworks against the onslaught of misinformation.

As I understand it, blockchain will offer a way to maintain truth in an online world powered by AI. 
When discussing "truth" in the online realm, it is important to recognise its subjective nature. Rather than making absolute judgements about truthfulness, the focus is on verifying and validating information sources. By leveraging blockchain technology, we can authenticate the source of information and assess its reputation, aiding users in determining the reliability and credibility of the information they encounter.

From a user perspective, what will the convergences of AI and blockchains look like? Will it look similar to today’s Web2 Internet?
The convergence of AI and blockchains will likely usher in profound changes for users. Rather than traditional operating systems and software, we may see the rise of edge-based AI models and experiences. These models would operate directly on users' devices, safeguarding their data and privacy while allowing selective sharing on terms agreed upon by the user. Ideally, users would also receive compensation for sharing their information. Additionally, we can anticipate personalised online experiences generated in real-time, tailored to each user's preferences, habits and needs. This shift contrasts starkly with the static nature of today's Web2 Internet, offering users greater control and customisation over their digital interactions.

So the Internet will be even more personalised than today?
Indeed. We are talking about a shift towards hyper-personalised online experiences. Say goodbye to standardised, app-based models and welcome a world of hyper-personalisation and specialisation for users. The biggest change lies in this hyper-personalisation. Ideally, if these experiences are built on blockchain infrastructure, they embody a sense of self-sovereignty. This means users have control over their assets, data and governance power, offering a fundamental dignity essential in the digital age. These are the advantages we anticipate.

Obviously, we are not there yet. Why is this?
A significant obstacle we face is the disconnect between the benefits of the open web, such as data and asset control, and users' priorities of convenience and ease of use. Despite the advantages of self-sovereignty, they may not resonate as strongly with users who prioritise convenience. Thus, a key challenge lies in making user experiences in a Web3 paradigm as seamless and effective as they are in Web2. Unfortunately, as an industry, we have yet to excel in addressing this challenge.

Isn’t the NEAR protocol working on this type of abstraction to provide a better user experience?
Yes. The NEAR protocol has been actively developing a concept known as "chain abstraction" as part of its product innovation efforts. The essence of chain abstraction is that as a user engaging with Web3 products or services, you shouldn't need to concern yourself with the underlying blockchain infrastructure being utilised. Whether it is the Near protocol, Ethereum, Polkadot, Polygon or any other blockchain solution, it shouldn't matter. The focus should simply be on using the desired product or service seamlessly.

What would this look like in practice?
Through the implementation of chain signatures, users can consolidate all their Web3 interactions and assets under a single NEAR account. This means managing Bitcoin, Ethereum and other interactions that typically require separate wallets, seed phrases and interfaces can now be done conveniently from one place. Acting as the connective tissue across various fragmented blockchain environments, this technology represents a significant leap forward in terms of user experience. Ultimately, it has the potential to make Web3 experiences competitive with the seamless functionality of Web2.