Smart blockchain ecosystems: The role of AI in decentralized networks

AI-integrated blockchains can enhance data processing, improve security, enable intelligent automation and support more sophisticated decentralized applications.

Integrating AI with blockchain, aelf aims to enhance blockchain capabilities and user experience by creating a dynamic, self-evolving ecosystem. 

Expected to grow beyond $1.8 trillion by 2030, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has opened up new frontiers across various industries, promising enhanced efficiency, adaptability and innovation. Integrating AI with blockchain technology represents a promising development, merging the strengths of both fields to create intelligent, self-evolving networks. 

The combination can lead to advanced data processing, intelligent automation and improved security measures, fundamentally transforming blockchain ecosystems. AI-powered blockchains can support more sophisticated applications and provide dynamic user experiences, paving the way for innovative decentralized applications (DApps). 

Embarking on a new phase, aelf — a high-performance layer-1 blockchain — is integrating AI into its blockchain ecosystem. Known for its multi-sidechain architecture, aelf has been developing scalable blockchain solutions to support the advancement of Web3 since 2017. 

📢ANNOUNCEMENT📢

As we envision AI to be the next catalyst for the future of blockchain, we are excited to announce that aelf will be undergoing an AI transformation, pivoting its focus to integrating #AI technology into its blockchain.

The transformation will unlock new… pic.twitter.com/CgyWAu00Dc

— ælf (@aelfblockchain) April 12, 2024

The strategic shift marks a notable development in aelf’s technological journey, aiming to enhance the blockchain’s capabilities and user experience. Incorporating AI into its blockchain network, aelf seeks to transform the platform into a dynamic ecosystem enriched with advanced AI models and agents. 

According to Auric, the founder of aelf, the AI initiative is about creating a self-evolving system. “The integration of computation, large language models and agents within aelf’s blockchain is not just an enhancement; it’s an evolution,” Auric explained. The goal is to develop a smarter, self-learning blockchain where each new block builds on previous advancements, improving functionality and adaptability over time. 

Partnership for decentralized AI infrastructure 

aelf has formed a strategic alliance with AgentLayer, a decentralized network tailored for AI agents, to facilitate AI integration. AI agents operate as automated AI-driven decision-making entities. The partnership intends to create a decentralized AI infrastructure and ecosystem, leveraging the strengths of both blockchain and AI technologies.

aelf and AgentLayer’s decentralized AI stack. Source: aelf 

Supporting the initiative, aelf Ventures, the investment arm of aelf, will strategically deploy its $50 million Ecosystem Fund — introduced in September 2023 — to support innovative AI projects that seek to leverage blockchain technology. By providing developer-friendly toolkits, aelf aims to empower its community to engage in data pre-processing, model training, fine-tuning, deployment, agent development and on-chain monetization. 

Existing projects and games on the aelf blockchain will be able to integrate AI capabilities, benefiting from improved efficiency and security. One such DApp is Project Schrodinger, an AI-powered 404 NFT DApp on the aelf blockchain. The project’s token, SGR, is a 404 token, which means it functions both as a fungible token and an NFT. 

The NFTs in Project Schrodinger are generated entirely by AI, showcasing the potential of integrating artificial intelligence with blockchain technology. New projects will benefit from aelf’s adaptable blockchain ecosystem, which is designed to support advanced DApps. The AI integration aims to deliver a more sophisticated user experience and foster continuous technological growth. 

“7 years ago, we have identified blockchain’s future and have been relentlessly developing modular systems, parallel processing, cross-chain bridges and cloud-native architecture, which are now what the industry has been talking about,” underlined Auric. 

By collaborating with AgentLayer, aelf is actively pursuing the transformation into an AI blockchain akin to AgentChain. The partnership focuses on credible verification, evidence storage, sharing and trading of AI models, data and computing resources within a decentralized framework. 

Leveraging AgentLayer’s AgentOS for AI application development and the PropertyGPT system to generate and validate smart contract properties, aelf aims to provide a comprehensive environment for deploying and managing AI frameworks and models seamlessly. 

Through this collaboration, aelf aspires to harness cutting-edge technology to emerge as a prominent player in the AI blockchain landscape, driving significant advancements in foundational layer-1 and layer-2 solutions, AI computational resources, and decentralized AI agents.