Introduction to AI and Crypto
David George and Chris Dixon discussed the intersection of AI and crypto in their conversation. Chris Dixon explained that technology waves often come in pairs or triples, citing mobile, social, and cloud as examples from the past. He believes AI, crypto, and new devices like robotics and VR are the current wave.
The Interaction Between Crypto and AI
Dixon highlighted that crypto is not just about Bitcoin or memecoins but is a new way to architect internet services. He mentioned that while AI has become closed-source, there are open-source projects like Llama and Mistral. Dixon discussed investments in projects like Gensyn, a crowdsourced compute layer, and Story Protocol, which registers intellectual property on a blockchain.
Using Crypto to Bootstrap Network Effects
Dixon explained that crypto excels at creating incentive systems, particularly useful for bootstrapping networks. He cited Helium as an example, a community-owned telecom network that competes with traditional telecom companies by allowing anyone to set up a node and contribute to the network.
The Economic Pact of the Internet
The conversation touched on how AI might break the internet’s current economic covenant. Dixon noted that the internet’s success was partly due to an implicit agreement between platforms and content creators. AI models training on internet data could disrupt this by providing direct answers, potentially bypassing original content sources.
From Skeuomorphic to Native Technologies
Dixon discussed the stages of technology adoption, from skeuomorphic (improving old processes) to native (enabling entirely new things). He believes AI is moving from the skeuomorphic phase (replacing existing jobs) to the native phase (enabling new art forms and media).
AI as Creative Substrate
Dixon sees AI becoming the native media form of our era, similar to how film emerged with mechanical reproduction. He believes AI will enable new creative possibilities, not just replace human creativity.
Challenges and Future State
The discussion covered the challenges of adopting AI, including regulatory hurdles and changing human behavior. Dixon emphasized the need for new architectures and infrastructures to support innovation and competition.
Conclusion
The ideal future internet, according to Dixon, would have near-zero creation and distribution costs, transparent ownership, and governance. He advocates for building new internet services with blockchain technology to prevent consolidation and support little tech and open-source AI.
