As blockchain and artificial intelligence come together more often every day, their power compounds to be worth more than the sum of the parts. Combining these emerging technologies yields results that mimic my favorite science fiction books, yet here it is, today—the “tomorrow” of sci-fi has arrived.
Blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that first enabled bitcoin in 2009, is now being used to bring the power of cryptographically protected and distributed databases to every aspect of our business and personal lives, allowing trust where it never existed before and with benefits including privacy, low-cost, transparency, and provenance.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term coined in 1956 that is only recently coming into its own. It is often described as the building of machines capable of performing calculations, analyses, and predictions based on previously unimagined amounts of data at a speed that is dizzying for the human mind to even comprehend.
Today, programmers and developers are putting together blocks of artificially intelligent data and linking them with other blocks of AI code so that these new technologies can work together in an effective, efficient, and powerful way.
Because blockchain democratizes access to AI, businesses of all sizes will very soon be able to offer the kind of customized service now provided only by huge companies like Amazon and Netflix. Think about the applications for data predictions and decision making, sentiment analysis, algorithm efficiency, analysis of consumer sentiment, privacy of personal data, and much more.
Yes, you want to know how these technologies will affect your business—especially in the growth and revenue categories. But imagine for a moment that you’re approaching this question of impact as an individual person and consumer. What if the future is ten years or less away and it will impact the doctors you see and the medical care you receive; your ability to control your private data everywhere (not only on the web); the way you shop for groceries, cars, and everything in between; the way you move money; and the way you educate your children.
It is not possible to list every company working on combining blockchain and AI because the list goes on forever and grows every single day. For a taste of what’s happening, here are some real-world examples of BC + AI in play today. See if you think that any of their combinations of blockchain + AI prove that 1+1 equals 3.
To me, it’s clear that when blockchain and artificial intelligence work together, 1+1 doesn’t just equal 3, it equals 4, or 5, or more. What do you think?
