AI x Crypto The 30k Foot View | Niraj Pant - Ritual

Summary

The speaker discusses the centralization and regulation challenges in AI, highlighting the need for open and transparent governance. They introduce 'ritual,' a company aiming to integrate AI with crypto to create decentralized, accessible AI solutions for a crypto-native audience. Ritual's two-phase approach includes 'infernet,' a decentralized Oracle Network for AI, and 'ritual chain,' an EVM-compatible sovereign chain for AI operations. The talk covers potential AI crypto applications in DeFi, gaming, content creation, and governance, emphasizing the benefits of cryptographic and game-theoretic primitives in AI.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The speaker discusses the rapid growth and increasing centralization of AI, emphasizing the need for open and transparent governance in AI models.
• 🌐 The current AI infrastructure is criticized for being centralized, permissioned, and increasingly regulated, which poses challenges for innovation and privacy.
• 🔮 The future of AI is predicted to be integrated into every technology product, with centralization potentially leading to censorship and manipulation.
• 💡 The analogy of AI's current state to the early days of cryptography is made, highlighting the need for open and decentralized AI similar to how cryptography evolved.
• 🤖 AI crypto is presented as a solution, leveraging the benefits of cryptocurrency such as self-sovereignty, privacy, and computational integrity for AI.
• 🔗 Ritual, the company being discussed, aims to be the convergence point of crypto and AI, focusing on making AI accessible to a crypto-native audience.
• 🛠️ Ritual is being developed in two phases: Infernet, a decentralized Oracle Network for AI, and Ritual Chain, an EVM-compatible sovereign chain for AI native operations.
• 🏦 The potential applications of AI crypto are highlighted, including in the realms of DeFi, gaming, content creation, and governance.
• 🛡️ Ritual's approach includes providing cryptographic and game-theoretic primitives for AI, enabling plug-and-play of different proof types for various guarantees.
• 🌟 The speaker calls for community participation, offering opportunities to run an Infinet node, build on the Ritual network, and engage in open research directions.
• 📢 The presentation concludes with an invitation for further engagement and collaboration, emphasizing the importance of community involvement in the development of AI crypto.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the talk?

The main topic of the talk is the intersection of AI and crypto, focusing on the fundamental underpinnings of this space, the problems with current AI infrastructure, and how AI crypto can offer solutions.

Why is the current AI infrastructure problematic according to the speaker?

The current AI infrastructure is problematic because it is highly centralized, permissioned, has high costs, lacks privacy or computational integrity, and is facing increasing regulation which hinders innovation.

What is the potential future impact of AI as mentioned in the talk?

The potential future impact of AI includes its integration into every technology product worldwide, leading to possible censorship and manipulation, as well as the use of AI in social control and propaganda.

What is the role of 'Ritual' in the context of AI crypto?

Ritual aims to be the convergence point of crypto and AI, making AI highly accessible for a crypto-native audience and enabling crypto developers to easily utilize AI in their applications.

What are the two phases of Ritual's development mentioned in the script?

The two phases are 'Infernet', a decentralized Oracle Network optimized for AI, and 'Ritual Chain', a sovereign chain that is EVM compatible and has a custom VM built for AI native operations.

What is Infernet and what does it offer?

Infernet is a decentralized Oracle Network that allows any blockchain to tap into an off-chain compute network for AI model inference, fine-tuning, and quantization directly in their applications.

What does the speaker mean by 'cryptography of this whole network' in the context of AI crypto?

The 'cryptography of this whole network' refers to the use of cryptographic techniques to ensure privacy, integrity, and trust in the AI crypto ecosystem, preventing tampering and ensuring secure access to AI models.

What are some of the applications of AI crypto mentioned in the talk?

Some applications include DeFi with models in the loop for automatic parameterization, gaming and entertainment with on-chain incentives for NPCs, content and media creation with AI models, and governance with AI-generated proposals and interfaces.

What is the significance of the 'proof Marketplace' in the Ritual ecosystem?

The proof Marketplace allows users to express their preferences for different guarantees around privacy and integrity, enabling them to choose the type of proof (e.g., ZK or optimistic) that best suits their needs for various use cases.

How can participants contribute to or engage with Ritual?

Participants can contribute by running an Infinet node, building on the Ritual network, joining the Discord community for support and updates, and developing or using AI-enabled dApps built on Ritual.

What is the 'frog.com' website mentioned in the script?

The 'frog.com' website is related to an onchain smart agent project built on Infernet, which buys and sells friend Tech keys, demonstrating the practical application of AI crypto concepts.