In a recent interview with DailyAI, David Palmer, CPO of PairPoint by Vodafone and board member of Web3 Asia Alliance, explores how emerging technologies like blockchain, AI and the metaverse are poised to reshape the future. Palmer contends that blockchain is becoming the universal trust infrastructure, providing security for business and consumer experiences. Meanwhile, the metaverse or spatial computing is providing interactive environments for AI to engage with users in meaningful ways.
Palmer underscores the role cellular networks and IoT play in these developments, connecting a plethora of devices and people and providing necessary processing speeds and power. Importantly, not all AI computation and processing can be centrally managed. A significant portion will rely on edge computing, confidential computing, and homomorphic encryption.
So how does blockchain factor into this? Palmer explains that blockchain provides the decentralized infrastructure necessary to support and facilitate edge computing for AI. This distributed framework allows secure, dispersed processing across a vast network of devices, without relying solely on centralized cloud platforms. This in turn enables widespread adoption and seamless integration of AI in daily life.
When discussing the potential risks of AI dominance by major tech companies, Palmer asserts that without Web3 and blockchain decentralization, an oligopoly of big tech, big cloud compute companies could monopolize the AI landscape. The solution to this lies in decentralization with web3 providing incentives for people to share their data and be rewarded in ways not possible with Web2 approaches.
The future of the metaverse and AI, Palmer believes, lies in the evolution of devices like the Apple Vision Pro. Such devices will become more streamlined and autonomous, shifting user behavior away from mobile phones and towards these next-generation devices.
Considering the advancements in bio-inspired AI and computing power, Palmer touches on the prospect of digital immortality being created through AI. However, he points out that the cost of resources and processing remains a considerable barrier for most except major players.
In relation to projects PairPoint by Vodafone is working on, Palmer mentions the development of virtual car showrooms run by AI assistants. Incorporating VR and AI technologies, these showrooms allow for an immersive customer experience.
In summary, Palmer posits that the key to AI systems serving end users fairly while balancing power from Big Tech lies in the smart integration of blockchain, AI, metaverse, and IoT. AI decentralization, accelerated by blockchain and Web3 integration, needs to merge virtual worlds with real-world devices and machines to ensure this outcome.
