How the Future of AI Will Be Owned by All

We must bring widespread transparency to the most powerful technology in history.

AI is going mainstream. Over the next decade, Tractica Research projects the AI industry to grow by 5,700%, representing the fastest growing segment of any size in the IT sector.

According to Tractica’s report, “AI has applications and use cases in almost every industry vertical and is considered the next big technological shift, similar to past shifts like the industrial revolution, the computer age, and the smartphone revolution.” In the near future, it will upend multiple age-old industries, government activities, and consumer behavior.

Tractica isn’t the only major research institution that believes the future will be undeniably distripted by pervasive AI. Last year, a panel of academic and technology experts at Stanford University published a 28,000-word report titled Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030. Not only did they review the technological implication of the coming AI revolution, but also the massive moral and ethical considerations.

“We believe specialized A.I. applications will become both increasingly common and more useful by 2030, improving our economy and quality of life. But this technology will also create profound challenges, affecting jobs and incomes and other issues that we should begin addressing now to ensure that the benefits of A.I. are broadly shared.” — Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030 Report

Image source: Time Magazine

Major political figures are taking notice

Other figureheads have also chimed in on the coming societal upheaval, including Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk.

“The potential benefits of creating intelligence are huge. We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AI. Perhaps with the tools of this new technological revolution, we will be able to undo some of the damage done to the natural world by the last one — industrialization. And surely we will aim to finally eradicate disease and poverty.” — Stephen Hawking

Beyond changes in technology and lifestyles, AI also has the potential to upend long-standing political structures. Many global leaders have taken notice.

“Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” — Vladimir Putin

Russia, in addition to China and the U.S., have been accelerating research efforts involving AI. China recently announced its ambition to become the global leader in AI research by 2030.

Image Source: Boston Globe

Crypto-technologies can remove centralized control

While the power of AI will be attractive to major centralized institutions like world governments, crypto-technologies are pushing to disintermediate these social structures altogether.

Eric Vorhees, CEO of ShapeShift, describes the impact of bitcoin, the first decentralized currency:

“To truly understand the revolutionary nature of Bitcoin, one’s focus should be squarely on its decentralization. There is no central organization keeping track of transactions. That important function is handled by the peer-to-peer network as a whole. This means the government may not stop Bitcoin usage without shutting down the entire internet.” — Eric Vorhees

Decentralizing monetary control, one of the major power centers for nation-states today, would have major effects, possibly eliminating nation states as we know them. This would remove the control of AI from the largest centralized institutions currently in existence.

“One reason to be excited about a truly decentralized internet, including decentralized yet consistent state (aka blockchains) and crypto currencies, is that these technologies have the potential to help us get past the Nation State. These decentralized systems are not constrained by the existing boundaries. They are truly global in nature, connecting all of humanity.“ — Albert Wenger

Image Source: Coin Journal

Creating a decentralized AI future

Bringing the power of decentralized blockchain technologies to the AI revolution could reshape the future of economies and society as a whole. SingularityNET, a project from leading AI researcher Dr. Ben Goertzel, is doing just that.

“Inspired by my friendship with Ray Kurzweil and my experience helping out with Singularity University in Silicon Valley, I began work on a new platform, SingularityNET. The vision: an open platform in which any AI developer on the planet can install their software, enabling it to reach any AI user on the planet. A platform in which AIs carrying out specific functions can work together seamlessly, helping diverse users in various ways and coordinating together into AI networks of increasingly general intelligence.” — Dr. Ben Goertzel, SingularityNET Founder

This would bring widespread transparency to one of the most powerful new technologies in history — something many leading experts have been calling for.

“A.I. technologies can be reliable and broadly beneficial. Being transparent about their design and deployment challenges will build trust and avert unjustified fear and suspicion.” — Barbara Grosz, Harvard computer scientist & Chair of the AI100 committee

With SingularityNET, Dr. Goertzel is aiming to give the power of AI to everyone, not just a handful of power corporations, governments, or individuals.

“If SingularityNET realizes even a fraction of its ambition, it will be a formidable competitor to current corporate cloud-AI providers like IBM Bluemix, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. No company, no matter how large or smart, can provide as much AI cleverness as an energized, decentralized community of AI developers in every country around the world.” — Dr. Ben Goertzel

Ben and some of the SingularityNET team

Learn more

We invite you to explore the vision of SingularityNET, meet the team, and read our whitepaper. The best way to join our community is to chat with the team directly on our Telegram Channel and to subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates.