The AI industry has always represented the “futuristic view” for humans. This is evident in movies, cartoons, and real life. Computers work, think, and act on behalf of futuristic humans – well, except in the Dune movies.

In the past half-decade, artificial intelligence has become the hottest topic in the world. It is second only to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most people are fascinated by the industry’s massive growth and the extent to which they can use it. This growth is expected to continue rapidly into the last years of the decade. Statista predicts the $184 billion industry will grow to nearly $900 billion by 2030.

However, as the industry becomes crucial in our lives, it will shape how we think and interact with the world. We will intertwine with it, probably more than we are today with the internet.

The Centralisation Problem

Mega-corporations such as OpenAI, IBM Watson, Google AI, and Amazon Machine Learning control the most powerful AI systems and models. These Big Tech firms own large data hubs to train, build, and sell these models to users. This raises a pertinent and justifiable fear among the common folk: Should we let this massive and dominant technological innovation remain under the control of the billionaire de jour?

Satoshi Nakamoto, wary of centralised financial institutions post-2008 global financial crisis, created Bitcoin to solve the centralisation conundrum. In a similar vein, AI needs solutions to remove the heavy hand of mega-corporations. These corporations control what could be the “most important technological advancement in the past few decades,” as Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates called it in a blog post in 2023.

The Bottleneck of Current AI Systems

AI technology will become a way of life for almost everybody on Earth. It will help us complete menial tasks to greater tasks. For instance, the growth of artificial general intelligence (AGI) can create “AI secretaries” or AI agents. These can help organize your calendar, pay your monthly bills, create a weekly diet schedule, or create your playlist. (“Hey AI agent X, can you create an R&B playlist including Beyonce, Ne-Yo, etc.”)

While the data in these examples may seem simplistic, it is very important and personal for most people. Would you want to share such data with Big Tech firms? These firms have time and again shown their willingness to use personal data only for profit. Even more unsettling is that AI is training in more human-related jobs that millions, and probably billions, of people need. These jobs include therapists and coaches. Millions of people will share their innermost thoughts, longings, fears, sexual desires, confessions, and embarrassments. Who would trust big tech with such information? It already happens with ChatGPT. More and more people use the AI tool to look for answers to their deepest personal questions.

This forms the bottleneck of current AI systems and models – the centralisation of AI technology, monopolisation of data used to train the AI models, and privacy concerns by users. As such, several developers around the world work on solutions that build sustainable AI models. They do this without Big Tech firms’ prying eyes on our personal data.

Blockchain as a Solution

Blockchain, a decentralised and privacy-preserving technology, integrates with AI. This ensures users enjoy the benefits of the technology without the toxicity of Big Tech.

A Paradigm Shift: The Rise of Decentralised AI Services

Blockchain technology has been used extensively to correct the centralisation impact in the financial world and most industries. This includes supply chain and healthcare. Finally, the technology extends its roots into artificial intelligence. It helps democratise and decentralise the industry. The technology has enhanced data security and transparency through its immutable ledgers. It transforms the global sharing of value and sets new standards for operational efficiency and transparency.

Integrating two of the most sought-after technologies today, AI and blockchain, could be the key to having a free, open, and decentralised AI ecosystem. The primary goal of decentralised AI technologies is to democratise access to AI resources. This includes data, models, and compute power. This is crucial in minimising the oligopolised structures in AI. These structures limit the number of entities in the space due to the computational complexity and huge costs of data sets needed to train AI models.

For instance, NeurochainAI proposes an innovative solution to the challenges of centralised AI systems. It offers a Decentralised AI Infrastructure As a Service (DeAIAS). Simply, NeurochainAI aims to break down the barriers of centralisation and monopolisation “by encouraging cooperation and coordination among various AI stakeholders,” its website reads.

Benefits of Decentralised AI

Decentralised AI benefits developers and the general public in several ways:

1. Decentralisation: Unlike current AI models, a decentralised AI ecosystem allows a community of users to share resources. This includes computing power, data storage, algorithm processing, and model validation. These could be costly for any one company trying to build their models. By tapping into a global community of users, the costs are reduced significantly.
2. Ready-to-Use Infrastructure: NeurochainAI provides developers with a ready-to-use platform. This helps them develop their AI dApps faster and up to five times more cost-effectively compared to traditional methods. This promotes more innovation across the ecosystem. This is unlike depending on a few companies for all technological advancements.
3. Incentivisation: One of the biggest benefits of a decentralised AI platform is rewarding the community for providing their resources. For instance, NeurochainAI rewards contributors with $NCN rewards. This fosters a collaborative ecosystem where each participant plays a role in shaping the future of AI technology.
4. Privacy and Security of Data: Decentralised AI also introduces an element of data privacy. Given blockchain technology allows users to be the custodians of their data, only they choose what data to give to train the AI models.
5. Active Participation by the Community: NeurochainAI is developed by the community and for the community. This involves community members actively participating in crucial AI training processes. This includes data curation and validation, algorithm processing, and model validation. This democratises AI development and enriches the models with diverse, real-world inputs.

The Future of Decentralised AI Services

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has ensured that many companies and individuals cannot create or train their AI models. This is due to the phenomenal amounts of computing power needed. While centralised cloud computing was a ready solution for previous challenges of computing power, AI is different.

Decentralisation solves this problem by creating a network of nodes (computers). This harnesses the huge untapped computing power of CPUs across the world. This modular approach of decentralised physical infrastructure (DePIN) enhances scalability. It provides a cheaper source of computing power than buying new servers. It also increases community participation in training the AI models. This allows dApps to learn and share information with each other.

While decentralised AI is still in its infancy, the creation of platforms such as NeurochainAI will give Big Tech a run for its money. It will solve the monopolised nature of AI, computational complexity, and privacy of data for users.