Earlier on the Internet, there were publications on the topic of integrating a blockchain with “Internet things” (IoT). Now the question arose about the prospects that the blockchain technology and artificial intelligence can offer when joined together.

The term AI is often used today, but only in the context of the practice and theory of creating machines capable of working in projects that require intelligence. Currently, advanced technologies to make this a reality include machine learning, artificial neural networks, and deep learning.

Blockchain, in turn, is a new digital information registration system that stores data in an encrypted, distributed register format. Since the data is encrypted and distributed to different computers, it allows you to create protected from unauthorized access, highly reliable databases that can be read and updated only by those who have permission.

Although there was a lot written from a scientific point of view about the potential for combining these innovative technologies, real achievements at the moment are scarce. However, it is expected that this situation will change in the near future.

The following are three ways in which AI and blockchain technology can combine.

AI and encryption – a very good combination

Data stored in a blockchain is inherently very secure due to the cryptography inherent in its filing system.

This means that block schemes are ideal for storing personal data, which, when cleverly processed, can be of considerable value and used to improve the comfort of our lives. It is enough to imagine “smart” health care technologies that can make correct diagnoses based on people’s medical examinations and reports. Or simply the recommendations used by Amazon or Netflix to offer what we potentially would like to buy.

Of course, the data that goes into these systems (after they are collected and summarized during our interaction with various services) are very private. Companies that do this are forced to invest large sums of money to ensure an adequate level of security when storing such data. Even so, cases that lead to the loss of personal data are becoming more common and more extensive!

Blockchain-based databases store their information in encrypted form. This means that only the secret keys of several kilobytes must be stored in a safe place to ensure the security of all data in the chain.

AI has a lot of room to improve security. It is associated with the construction of algorithms that are able to work with data while they are still in an encrypted state. Since any part of the process of storing information, which includes providing unencrypted data, carries a security risk, reducing the number of such incidents can solve a number of security problems.

The blockchain is able to understand and explain the actions of AI

AI decisions can sometimes be difficult for people to understand. This is due to the fact that such systems are able to evaluate a huge quantity of variables independently of each other and “learn” which of them are more important for the overall task that they are trying to solve.

As an example, we can note the fact that in the future, it will be more and more often that the algorithm will be introduced by the AI algorithm in the process of deciding whether financial transactions are fraudulent and should be blocked or analyzed.

However, it will still be necessary for these solutions to be checked for accuracy by humans for some time. Given the huge amount of data that needs to be considered, this can be a daunting task. For example, Walmart transmits monthly transaction data in all of its stores to its own AI systems, which make decisions about the need for the supply of certain goods.

If all solutions are written to the system based on blockchain technology, this greatly simplifies their verification. In addition, it ensures that the record will not be changed between the time it is entered into the database and the beginning of the audit process.

No matter how clearly we understand the situation, AI offers tremendous benefits in many areas. However, if there is a lack of public confidence in such systems, the benefits of its use will be severely limited. Using AI and the blockchain can be a step towards achieving a new level of transparency and understanding of the work of robots, which will be needed to gain public confidence.

AI is able to control the blockchain better than people and computers

Traditional computers are very fast but very unwise. They cannot handle any task without explicit instructions on how to go about it. This means that because of the encrypted nature, working with block data on “stupid” computers requires large computational power. For example, hashing algorithms involved in creating blocks in a bitcoin blockchain use the “brute force” approach. In other words, they try to use each combination of characters until they find the one that is suitable for verifying the transaction.

AI is an attempt to move away from such an approach of brute force and solve problems more rationally and thoughtfully. For example, an expert on hacking codes, if they are complicated, will work better and more efficiently, since in the course of their activities they will successfully crack more and more codes. The algorithm of AI, based on the mechanism of learning, will solve its problem in a similar way. It does not need a lifetime for its development to become an expert. It could almost instantly improve its skills with the right approach during training.

Obviously, blockchain and AI are two technological trends that, being innovative, can become even more revolutionary if they are combined. Both of them contribute to the expansion of mutual capabilities and can improve the control and accountability of each other.

Taking advantage of these technologies at the early stage is important as this can propel your business and make you stand out from the competition. Due to the amount of effort and resources that must be committed to these technologies, you have to be innovative and make sure that you are doing the right thing.