Interrupters are wrong. AI won’t end the world—but it will end the web as we know it.
AI is already breaking the economic contract of the Internet that has existed since search began: A few companies (especially Google) bring the demand, and the creators bring the supply (and get ad revenue or recognition from it). AI tools already generate and summarize content, avoiding the need for users to click through to content providers’ sites, and thereby disrupting the balance.
Meanwhile, a sea of deepfakes and AI-powered bots will make us question what’s real and will erode people’s trust in the online world. And as big tech companies—those who can afford more data and computing—continue to invest in AI, they will become even more powerful, closing in on what’s left of the open internet.
The march of technology is inevitable. I don’t care about this crying that the sky is falling or holding back progress. We need to help individual users gain some control over their digital lives. Imaginary government regulation can help, but it often slows innovation. Attempting a one-size-fits-all solution can create as many problems as it solves. And, let’s face it, users aren’t going to back down from living their lives online.
Major technology movements often converge—think of the rise of social, cloud, and mobile computing in the 2000s. This time is no different: AI requires a computer with a blockchain. Why? First, blockchains enforce ownership. Blockchains can create reliable bonds that include assets, payments, and energy. A decentralized computer network—not a large corporation, or any other intermediary—verifies transactions, ensuring that rules and records cannot be changed without consensus. Smart contracts automate and enforce these patents, creating a system that ensures transparency, security, and trust, giving users full control and ownership of their digital lives. For creators, this means the ability to decide how others—including AI systems—can use their work.
Another fundamental right of ownership that can be enforced by the blockchain is ownership. If you are who you say you are, you can sign a statement, cryptographically, to prove more. We can carry our own identity on the web without depending on other people. Onchain identity can also help distinguish real users from bots and fraudsters. In the 1990s, no one on the Internet knew if you were a dog. Now, people can know for sure if you’re a dog—or a bot. By 2025, I expect to see more “proof of identity” on the Internet, thanks to recent advances in this technology.
By 2025, blockchains will be used to create tamper-proof records of original digital content, a safeguard against deepfakes. Once a video, photo, or audio recording is created, blockchains can provide and store a unique digital fingerprint. Any changes to the content change that signature, making it easier to detect tampering. Blockchains can also store metadata and proof of authentication from trusted sources, further verifying the authenticity of content.
Finally, in 2025, blockchains will help achieve the true goals of the Internet, promoting a creative, open, diverse web. Currently, users are dependent on a few Internet giants—the same ones that are investing heavily in AI (and asking for regulation to exclude smaller competitors). Websites and apps that have been open have added paywalls, restricted or closed their APIs, deleted their archives, edited past content without permission, and added intrusive banners and ads. By 2025, blockchain alternatives will offer more choice, open source innovation, and community-controlled options. They will carry the torch of the open internet. Crypto will begin to take the power away from the big tech companies, putting it back in the hands of the users.
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