Beyond Automation: Scaling AI Agency On The Blockchain

Artificial intelligence is evolving at a breakneck pace, and with it comes a new player on the scene: Agentic AI. This isn’t just an upgrade, it's a complete reimagining of how AI functions, particularly within the decentralized worlds of blockchain and Web3. Moving beyond simple automation, Agentic AI is all about autonomy, goal-oriented behavior, and learning on the fly. When combined with blockchain, this tech duo is poised to revolutionize decentralized governance, ownership, and even liquidity.

Agentic AI is a new frontier in artificial intelligence, defined by its ability to operate independently, without needing a human to oversee its every move. Think of it as an AI that can make decisions in complex, unpredictable environments, all while staying true to its programmed goals. Scholars and researchers have laid the groundwork for understanding these systems, which are designed to pursue specific objectives, even when the going gets tough. Let's explore them...

Agentic AI stands apart from traditional AI and machine learning by embodying a handful of key principles:

1. Autonomy: Stuart Russell highlights that Agentic AI can act independently, making decisions and taking actions without waiting for a human green light. This gives the AI the freedom to navigate and interact within various environments on its own.

2. Goal-Driven: According to Nick Bostrom, Agentic AI is typically engineered to achieve specific goals. This goal-directed behavior means that the AI isn’t just reactive; it’s actively working towards an outcome, much like a human striving to accomplish a task.

3. Decision-Making and Planning: Eliezer Yudkowsky emphasizes the importance of decision theory in AI. Agentic AI needs to make choices that align with its goals, even when facing complex or uncertain situations.

4. Interactivity and Adaptation: Rodney Brooks’s idea of "Embodied Intelligence" comes into play here. Agentic AI systems can interact with their environment, adapt to changes, and use sensory data or inputs to guide their actions effectively.

5. Self-Motivation and Preservation: Stephen Omohundro’s "Basic AI Drives" theory suggests that Agentic AI might develop a form of self-motivation, pushing itself to achieve its goals while also prioritizing its survival to keep functioning.

6. Learning and Self-Improvement: Researchers like Yoshua Bengio have shown that these AI systems often learn from their experiences, fine-tuning their strategies over time. This continuous learning process is what makes Agentic AI so dynamic, enabling it to refine its autonomy and decision-making capabilities.

These attributes allow Agentic AI to function in a way that resembles human agency. Unlike older AI models, which rely on static programming, Agentic AI thrives on continuous improvement and real-time adaptation, making it highly responsive to new challenges.

Pairing Agentic AI with blockchain technology creates a powerful synergy. Blockchain’s decentralized, transparent nature complements Agentic AI’s autonomous capabilities. With blockchain’s secure and immutable ledger, Agentic AI can operate without centralized control, ensuring both transparency and efficiency.

Additionally, blockchain technology facilitates the distribution of Agentic AI across a wide network, ensuring that no single point of failure exists. This enhances the resilience and robustness of AI systems, making them more adaptable to various challenges and disruptions.

The combination of blockchain and Agentic AI also opens the door to new forms of decentralized tokenized governance, where AI agents can autonomously enforce rules, manage resources, and even evolve based on collective decision-making processes.

Several advancements are making it easier for Agentic AI to thrive in blockchain ecosystems:

• Large Language Models (LLMs): These models facilitate natural interactions between humans and AI, a crucial aspect of executing complex blockchain-based tasks. Newer LLMs that employ advanced NLP and improved contextual understanding enable Agentic AI to seamlessly interact with users and other AI agents on the blockchain, facilitating the execution of complex tasks and maintaining consistency in operations, particularly within decentralized applications (dApps).

• Scalable Computing Power: Decentralized networks of GPUs and cloud services allow Agentic AI to expand its operations as needed, ensuring it performs well across various applications. By leveraging clusters of compute power, datasets, and models in an onchain marketplace, AI agents can effectively bridge the gap between human intent, machine execution, and performing effective and efficient transactions without a central authority or rigid programming to limit its capacity to adapt to market conditions.

• Interconnectivity: Agentic AI’s ability to seamlessly interact with decentralized apps (dApps) and other blockchain systems is essential for achieving broader objectives, especially in areas like decentralized finance (DeFi), specialized smart contract execution, and onchain transactional efficiencies.

The convergence of Agentic AI and blockchain is full of potential, but it also brings challenges like ensuring scalability, interoperability, and effective governance. As these technologies develop, striking a balance between automation and human oversight will be crucial to ensuring that AI agents operate in alignment with societal values.

The AI Protocol, which enables the development of a community-driven, secure, and adaptive, decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) for tokenized AI Systems, offers a pathway for global collaboration in this space, potentially setting the stage for groundbreaking advancements in decentralized AI.