Numeraire investment analysis

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most abused buzzwords in cryptocurrency, but it is a legitimate niche that has stellar applications. In fact, it’s likely the area where we will see the most growth in the next few years.

Humans are becoming more and more connected to each other via the internet, mobile devices, social networks and other items, but now we’re looking to connect with more things. Not only can we communicate with each other, but now our cars, phones, appliances, homes and any other machines will be able to do so as well.

The Internet of Things is a network seeking to connect these machines and allow them to not only talk but also transact with each other. Unfortunately, this requires microtransactions, which up until now, there was no good way to transfer value between these services. Thanks to cryptocurrencies, this can now become a reality, and the way our devices interact will change the way that we do things every day.

How can the blockchain help facilitate AI distribution?

The blockchain offers an efficient way to not only host applications, but also to share them with others. This not only applies to apps like games, but also to artificial intelligence. In fact, some of the solutions we’ll be talking about will actually make it easy enough for anyone to deploy their own artificial intelligence software or smart contracts for whatever purpose they want with no programming knowledge.

Some of these services will even allow you to make money off of these solutions. Either through collecting data using products you already own or by selling your own software solutions to others that might require those services. Cryptocurrencies also allow for microtransactions that are needed to fund these interactions.

What cryptocurrencies are working on AI solutions?

Iota

Likely the most well-known project in this niche, Iota is the first one people think of when it comes to artificial intelligence. This cryptocurrency offers zero transaction fees, making it ideal for the microtransactions required to feed devices currently employed by the internet of things. The Iota foundation plans to make available a data marketplace, and in the not so distant future, a large number of connectable devices that you own will be able to participate in this network.

Essentially, it’s the sharing economy on steroids, and users will be able to sell information collected by their idle belongings. While social media giants and websites try their best to harvest data under sneaky hidden user agreements, Iota plans to give you the power to profit from your own information.

Sensors and data sources all over the world will feed valuable information into aggregators which can utilize this data for various purposes. The use cases for Iota are so vast that it can be overwhelming, but investors can envision this technology being used to collect things like weather data, traffic route optimization and to provide relevant data for logistics.

Adhive

This isn’t the application that people normally think of when it comes to AI, but it’s still an interesting use case. Adhive is an influencer marketing platform controlled by artificial intelligence. Influencer marketing is one of the most valuable forms of marketing, and it has blown up recently thanks to places like Youtube and Instagram providing mini-celebrities that are not only within the reach of smaller companies but could also be more profitable due to their niche and very engaged audiences.

The only problem with this strategy is that you must contact, negotiate and interface with each of these influencers individually. This is obviously very time consuming and inefficient for a large scale advertising deployment.

Adhive is using the blockchain and AI to alleviate this burden. Advertisers will be able to upload their requirements, such as requiring a mention in a particular post. They set their budget, and the project goes live. The advertising platform then automatically verifies via the AI whether desired actions have taken place.

Other users on the platform are then employed as quality control to make sure everything is up to par. After which both parties are paid for their contributions. This allows for corporate sponsors to easily create large scale promotions, and the platform is already up and running. Investors can see how it works by visiting the Adhive website.

Numerai

Numerai is a hedge fund that is run completely by artificial intelligence. You could call this a grand experiment in computer technology. By using this blockchain based platform, they want to connect their artificial intelligence software to the stock market. It’s also a giant competition.

Data scientists all over the world are challenged to create the best trading algorithms, and then they are rewarded with cryptocurrency for their efforts. Thus far, the plan seems to be working and the fund is making money. The project has unsurprisingly gained coverage by many financial based news outlets who are intrigued by their work.

The true goal of the project, however, is to find a way to let everyone win. Wall Street is competitive, and there’s no incentive to help anyone else succeed. Numerai hopes to create a system where cooperation is the key to fulfilling your own goals, and here it seems they have some more work to do as the scientists they employ continually try to game the system.

Matrix AI

This artificial intelligence blockchain project is doing much the same as their competitors, but they have one very important special feature. Ease of use. According to the team at Matrix, they don’t think smart contracts are very smart. While they allow users to perform lots of useful features, they are not in fact very user-friendly.

To that end, they’ve created what they call “intelligent contracts”, or ones that they believe are superior to what Ethereum offers. These software bits are pre-constructed, and they will allow anyone to deploy their own smart contract with zero programming knowledge. This essentially opens up the usability of smart contracts to anyone and not just those with blockchain programming experience. Users will only need to tell Matrix their purpose and conditions, and Matrix will create a smart contract for them.

They also offer a more lightweight network that’s capable of processing one million transactions per second, putting it far ahead of Ethereum’s processing power. Their built-in security features work around the clock, sniffing for vulnerabilities and evolving to meet any threats that the system may encounter in the future as well. The features offered by this project offer an exciting use case that allows for the mainstream to harness the power of AI and blockchain technology.

Singularity Net

Singularity Net is a decentralized marketplace for AI. While other platforms simply allow you to create and host your own solutions, this one will allow you to utilize the work of others as well. Users of this service will gain access to a database full of artificial intelligence services which they will be able to buy and sell. Much like SAAS products that have become popular as plugins for consumer software such as Wordpress or Shopify, these same developers will be able to monetize AI software as well.

Similarly, end users without programming knowledge will be able to purchase these AI for their own purposes to grow their businesses. The uses cases for this are abundant, but it could include things like security, financial trading, marketing, recommendation services and language processing for bilingual computerized customer service agents.

Conclusion

In closing, the applications for artificial intelligence are staggering. This industry has the ability to create many new jobs that could bring much needed income to many other sectors. The blockchain will be the on-ramp for these new services that will help us become more efficient in our everyday lives.

Which AI project you invest in will likely be a matter of opinion, but investors should remember to do their own research. This niche can be complicated, and it’s important that you have a firm grasp of a company’s technology, proposed solutions, development team, marketing plan, and the desire for their product before investing. There’s lots of options here, and investors would be wise to review all of them before making hasty investment decisions.