The Synergy of Blockchain and AI: How the Two Work Together?

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a leading technology that is a decentralised distributed ledger stored over the internet. It first came into the limelight in 2008 when it was introduced as the technology that powers Bitcoin, the world’s first-ever cryptocurrency.

Check out our take-home-eGuide on Blockchain App Development.

Several blocks come together to form a blockchain network – like Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and R3 Corda – with each one of them storing a set of transactions. A block can’t be altered as it is immutable, offering a high level of transparency and security.

Blockchain is the driving force behind a wide range of today’s leading technologies, including DeFi (decentralised finance), NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts.

It also has wide uses in immersion technologies, i.e., AR, VR, and MR. Blockchain is also one of the core technologies that make up the Web 3.0 ecosystem.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence or AI is a subfield of electronics and computer science that aims to generate human-like intelligence in machines. It is the umbrella term that includes other state-of-the-art tech concepts like machine learning, computer vision, deep learning, and natural language processing. AI systems are capable in:

• Analysing vast quantities of data
• Making predictions based on analysed data
• Recognising patterns

AI is also related to data science, IoT, and several other popular technologies. There are several benefits of adding AI to mobile apps. Chatbots are a popular application of artificial intelligence that can be integrated into mobile apps and websites as well.

Artificial intelligence helps to bring automation into play that helps systems to operate on their own with little to no human intervention.

Blockchain in AI

Blockchain is a secure technology that can empower resilient and fast AI systems. At present, any AI development company can make its services even better by leveraging the power of blockchain technology.

The main feature of artificial intelligence is its ability to emulate human-like reasoning in machines. Moreover, it can react fast to large amounts of data. This, however, leads to the drawback of non-transparency of the complexity of AI-based decision-making.

Machine learning models are often complex. These are usually black boxes and there are no clear explanations available. This can lead to ethical and trust issues. Integrating blockchain in AI can help to resolve this issue of explainability by introducing transparency.

Here are the various ways in which integrating blockchain technology in artificial intelligence projects can help:

1.Better Data Management, Especially for Small Businesses and Startups

The data required to train AI systems is huge. It must be accurate, diverse, and relevant. Furthermore, relevant data is required, which is usually distributed throughout an organisation or available with a small set of companies.

This isn’t an issue for big firms, but for smaller companies and startups, this could be a huge hiccup in the path to developing top-notch AI solutions as they lack the resources to build their own data infrastructure. Blockchain solves this issue by providing a decentralised stage for the storage and sharing of data. The end result is democratised access to data.

Using blockchain facilitates storing data transparently and securely across a network of computers. This simply means that sharing data between organisations and/or individuals is possible without necessitating any intermediaries or third parties.

2.Enhanced Data Security and Integrity

Blockchain tech can be used to upscale the security and integrity of data in AI systems. Storing AI models on blockchains will result in their decision-making becoming more accountable, decentralised, and transparent.

3.Improved Governance of AI Systems

The ethical responsibility of ensuring that AI-powered systems are used responsibly is termed AI governance. This is becoming increasingly difficult with the development of AI.

Introducing blockchain to AI-powered systems can solve this problem. This is done by creating a decentralised platform that allows stakeholders to collaborate and form decisions regarding the development and use of AI-powered systems.

AI governance is indispensable in critical systems like finance and healthcare. A blockchain-powered governance system, for instance, brings stakeholders of all types in the healthcare industry, including doctors, patients, and regulators, to set ethical guidelines for using artificial intelligence for healthcare purposes.

4.Meeting Extensive Computing Power Requirements

The increasing complexity of artificially intelligent systems requires more computational power. As AI systems usually rely on centralised data servers, meeting computing power demands becomes difficult.

With a distributed ledger technology like blockchain, AI systems can be supplemented with additional computing power by leveraging many computing machines simultaneously.

5.More Automation, Less Human Intervention

Automation is a term that is closely associated with artificial intelligence. You must have heard of self-driving “autonomous” cars powered by AI, automated AI chatbots, and so on.

The autonomy of such systems is made possible by artificial intelligence. The same thing can be added to a blockchain. Doing so reduces the requirement for a human assistant.

In theory, blockchain eliminates intermediaries from transactions and thus, makes them faster and more efficient. Also, blockchain ensures the security of the transaction process.

6.Rendering AI Systems Transparent

A major concern with AI systems is their black-box nature, which makes them enigmatic when it comes to understanding their operations and decision-making process.

Although lack of transparency can be bearable in certain applications, it isn’t acceptable in critical applications like finance and healthcare. An important benefit of introducing blockchain to AI systems is the availability of accountability and transparency.

This helps to boost trust in AI-powered systems as stakeholders are able to see how decisions are made and ensure that they remain fair and unbiased.

Artificial Intelligence in Blockchain Technology

Like blockchain enhances AI, artificial intelligence can also help to improve blockchain technology. Adding artificial intelligence to blockchain-based business networks makes them more intelligent. They can rapidly and comprehensively read, analyse, and correlate data.

Smart contracts integrating AI models, for example, implemented on a blockchain network are capable to leverage predefined thresholds and events – or triggers – to execute a variety of transactions that can range from placing reorders to making payments.

AI algorithms can help to detect fraudulent/suspicious activity on blockchain networks and make relevant suggestions to counter the same. AI in blockchain networks makes them easy to automate and scale.

Apptunix Offers Blockchain and AI Development Services

Apptunix is a blockchain app development company that has a diverse range of blockchain app development services relevant to work on DeFi, crypto, NFT, and other blockchain-based projects. We also provide blockchain development services paired with the power of artificial intelligence. 

We at Apptunix – a top-rated blockchain development company in Dubai, the US, the UK, and India – clearly understand the possibilities and nuances that pairing blockchain with AI introduces to businesses, and present our clients with a wide range of white-label and customised solutions to empower their business endeavours.

Conclusion

Both artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are leading technologies in the tech space. While the former is capable of bestowing machines the ability to think – to some degree – like a human on their own and make decisions based on their conclusions with little to less human intervention, the latter is an online distributed and decentralised data storage system that significantly increases the security and data integrity of a network.

Nonetheless, both have their own limitations. A combination of the two can be used to develop systems that are both decentralised and intelligent. Furthermore, introducing AI in blockchain networks makes them more autonomous and efficient. Here we can clearly detect a synergy between blockchain and AI.

At present, we can see the applications of AI and blockchain in similar industries like financial services, healthcare, and supply chain management. Both also have an immense potential to revolutionise the way mobile applications work and are being developed.