区块链+人工智能+人类：白皮书和邀请函

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Blockchain+AI+Human:WhitepaperandInvitation

AlexPentland,JohnWerner,ChrisBishop

CONTEXT

Wefindourselvesatauniquepointinhistory,amomentintimewhennewtechnologiesareemergingatanunprecedentedpace.Specifically,artificialintelligence,machinelearning,robots,andInternetofThings(IoT)arecombiningtocreateanewwaveofchangeastheybegintotakeadvantageofcryptocurrencies,ICOs,virtualassets,theblockchainandthetokenizationofeverything.Theresultofthiscollisionoftechnologiesandhumanorganizationsishand-wringingaboutjobloss,fearofrobotoverlords,andworriesaboutArmageddon.

Butitiseasytogetcaughtupinthehypeofthemoment,togetsweptupbywhatthemediaandtechnoratiaresayingaboutwhatishappening-whoitwillimpact,whattheimpactwillbeandwhatwinnersandloserswillemerge.Whilethereiscertainlypotentialfortremendouschange,bothgoodandbad,90%ofwhatisbeingwrittenaboutblockchainandartificialintelligencetodayishypeorunrealistic,overinflatedpostulation.Whatisreallygoingon?

Wehaveseenthesetypesofmassivesocietalchangesbefore.These“supercycles”havebeencausedbyvarioustechnologicalinnovationsandresultedinthingsliketheindustrialrevolutionandtheInternetera.ThelastsupercycleoccurredbeginningwiththeintroductionoftheInternet,whichallowedanewlevelofglobalcommunication.IntheearlydaysoftheInternet,youonlydealtwithfriendssoidentityandsecuritywerenotanissue.AstheInternetgrew,howeveryouoftendidn’tknowwhoyouweredealingwith,sopeopleengineered“hacks”suchaspasswordsandfirewallstomakeitworkquicklyandprettyreliably.

Butnowthatwearebeginningtorunourentiresocietyonit,thesehacksareinsufficient.Ithastoalmostneverfailandithastobeconsensusdriven,auditableandtransparent.Theworldhasdiscoveredratherpainfullythattoday’sbusinesssystemsareinfacthackableandgameable.Moreover,itisgettingworse:therecentattackstiedtoelectionmeddlingandattemptstodisruptthepowergridmakeitclearthatourentiresocietyisvulnerable.

Thecurrenttidalwaveofnewtechnologiesandsocialdisruptionaresymptomsofamuchbiggerchange:theveryInternetitselfisbeingtransformed,evolvingfromalooselystructuredcommunicationsmediumtoatrustedexecutionmedium.BlockchainandAIhavethepotentialtofinallyallowbothcompaniesandcitizenstosafelyandsecurelydobusinesswitheachother-toleteachpartyknowwhotheyaredealingwith,confirmtheinteractionisnotfraudulent,theoutcomesguaranteed.

WiththisperspectivetheemergenceofblockchainandAIisnotunexpected.,Theyareaconsequenceofthelimitationsoftheinternetandalogicalextensionofthetechnologyevolutionwehavebeenwitnessingforthepast50years,certainlysincethefirstpersonalcomputerswereinventedandtheearlydaysoftheARPANET.ThepeoplewhobuilttheARPANETdesigneditasawaytokeepmilitarycommunicationsafeincaseofanuclearattack.Thesystemwaslaterextendedtokeepmunicipalitiesanduniversitiesconnectedaswellasprotectimportantinformation.Butitfailedtoprovideadequatesecurityandauditability,andsohasneverdevelopedthetrustedsystemsweneedinordertorunoursociety.

WhichiswhereblockchainandAIcanhelp.Atamacrolevel,theycanprovidealeveloftransparency,accountabilityandanalyticsthatneverexistedbeforeinthedigitalworld.Wehavetheabilitytobringanewleveloftrustworthinesstotheglobaleconomicsystemaswellassocietywritlarge.Asaconsequence,BlockchainandAIarebecomingthenextsupercycleandarethecoreofareallymajorsocietaltransformation.

Blockchain,atitsmostbasic,allowshumanstoreachconsensusonashareddigitalhistorywithoutamiddleman.AIallowshumanstofindanswersinvastamountsofdatamoreefficientlythaneverbefore.Togethertheycanproviderobustbusinessandgovernmentprocessesthatarebothtrustworthyandtransparent,ratherthantryingtomanageahodgepodgeoflooselyconnectedentitiesandprocessesthatwerecreatedthroughhistoricalaccident.Theimplicationsforsocietyandbusinessarehuge.

Today,weseeblockchainandAIpoisedtoprovideasolutionforasetofveryreal21stcenturychallenges:thedelugeofBigData,thegrowthoftheIoT,increasingautomationandroboticsdeployment,useofthecloud,variousthreatstocybersecurity,mobilecomputing,andthegrowthofcryptoassets.WehavenowarrivedataseminalmomentwhereblockchainandAIaretherighttoolstohelphumansaddressthesechallengesandinfact,takeadvantageofthisnextsupercyclebyprovidingbothtransparencyandpowerfulanalytics.

TheprevioussupercycleoccurredwhentheInternetbecamecommercializedandthedevelopmentoftheWebbrowserallowedinstantalbeitunmonitoredglobalcommunication.Therehavebeenmanysmallercycles-themovetoportablecomputers,developmentofsmartphonesanduseofmobiletechnologies,growthofsocialmedia.Butthisevolutionfromacommunicationtooltoatrustedmediumfortransactions,datasharingand,analyticsisaseachange.

Asaconsequence,nowisthetimetofocusonblockchainandAI,justlikewehadtofocusontheInternetbackwhenitfirstappeared.Simplyput-blockchainrepresentsanewwaytoconductsecuretransactionsandAIprovidesexponentiallymorepowerfulanalyticcapabilities.Thetimingisclear.Carpedeum-andwecan.

THEBIGQUESTIONS

Giventhisnewtechnologicallandscape,whatarewereallygoingtodowiththeseinnovations?Howdowewanttolive,basedonthepotentialofblockchainandAItoimpactandinfluenceglobalcultureandbusiness?Howcantheyhelpuspayforandbuildstuff,andnotjustformarket-drivenbusinessesbuttofurtherthe“humanbusiness”?Howarewegoingtousethesedisruptivetechnologiestobuildabettersociety?

AIandblockchainarepartofasetofevolvingglobaleconomicstructuresthatarebettersuitedforaconnectedworld.Weareenteringanerawherethingscannotfailandwehavetoknowthatdataissecure.Imaginebeingabletomonitortransactionsfromanywhereontheplanetandbeconfidentthattheyaresecure,thatthedataleftwhereitwasstoredandgottowhereitwassupposedtogoquicklyandsafely.Thatthedataweshareisonlyviewedbythepeoplewhoaresupposedtoseeitandusedonlyasweexpect.ThepowerofblockchainandAIcancontributetomakingthesesystemsirrefutableandtokeepingdatasafe.

Businesseshavetheopportunitytogetinontheproverbialgroundfloorandtakeadvantageofthisexcitingconvergencewithimplicationsthatincludenewlevelsofsecureauthentication,immutableaudittrails,morerobustfrauddetection.Thesetechnologiesaddressakeyissuefacingbusinesses:howcanItakecontentiousprocessesthatarecomplicatedandinefficientandmanagetheminatrustworthyandefficientmanner?

Asanopen,immutable,andincorruptiblerecordkeepingsystem,blockchainhasthepotentialtotransformeveryfiduciaryandrecord-keepingindustryfromhealthcareto

legaltobanking.Morebroadly,itrequiresustorethinkhowvalueisrepresented,recordedand,exchanged.

Wearenotthereyet.Butwearestartingtoheaddowntheroad.Nottosaytherearen’tprosandconstothisevolutionaryphase.Scenariosrangefromdarkandpessimistic-“thecorporaterobotswilltakeoverandthendestroytheworldasweknowit”-toPollyanna-ish-“noonewillhavetoworkagain,alljobswillbecomeautomatedandwe’llallgettoloungearound,readtheclassicsandpaintinoils.Orgosailingandplaygolf.

Orwhateveryoufancydoing.”

WHATWEAREDOING

Thetimeisnowtoconvenestakeholderstomovethisconvergenceforwardinawayconsistentwithourcommonaspirationsandthedeepnatureofourvaluesashumans.Itisimperativethatweconvenenotthepeoplewhowillcontrolthesetechnologiesbutrathertheoneswhowillactuallybeusingthem.Thisisthetimetobuildpilotsandestablishstandardsandteaseoutbestpracticesandkeylearnings-toacceleratetheimpactofthecoretechnologiesofAIandblockchain,andexpandthepositiveimpactofthenextsupercycle.

AIhastheabilitytodeliveralevelofanalyticsunavailablebefore-toolsthatcancaptureandanalyzetheyottabyesofdatahumansandmachinesarecreating,quicklypullingoutactionabledatafromthetsunamiofinformation.AIinstancesarealsoabletolearn,teachingthemselveshowtoimprovetoreachdesiredoutcomesandsharingthoselearningswithotherAIsaswellaswithhumans.

Butaswebeginhavingreal-timeactionablesystemsincludingroboticsandcivicprocessesrunbyanalytics(AI),wehavetobesuretheydotherightthing,evenifthecurrentlawissilentonthematter.TherecentdemonizingofFacebookdemonstratesthis.Theyaregettinghungbecausepeoplearewakinguptothefactthatcriticalsystemsaregameable.

Similarconcernsapplytoblockchain.Forexample,despitethehype,thereisnotgoingtobeonecentralblockchain.LegalfirmsandhealthcarepayersarealreadybuildingprivateblockchainsbehindEnterprisefirewallstolimitaccesstosensitiveinformation.

Therewillprobablybeacouplecommoncommercialonesbutmanyprivateonesaswell.Howcanwemaintaininteroperabilityandsecurity,letalonetransparencyandaccountability,withsuchawelterofdifferentsystems?

AtMIT,ourpassionhasalwaysbeentoidentifycommittedstakeholderswithwhomto

partner.Weareexcitedaboutbuildingpilotsasawaytoquicklyseewhatworksandthenusetheselearningstohelpestablishstandards.

Fourlarge-scaleprojectswecurrentlyhaveunderwayare:

TransportationincubatorpilotinIsrael

GovernancepilotinColumbiaandSenegal

DataSharingpilotsinBeijingandHongKong

OpenMusicInitiativeforroyaltysharingacrossthemusicindustry

Ourgoalistoestablishbestpracticeswithinthesenewtechnology-enabledenvironmentsbypiloting“beta”versionsofblockchain+AIsystemsinpartnershipwithawidevarietyofstakeholders.

NEXTSTEPS

It'snotjustaboutblockchain.It'snotjustaboutAI.It'sabouthowthesethingsfittogetherinahumanfabric.Sonowthatwerunourentiresocietyonvarioustechnologies,theycan'tfailandhavetobeauditableandtransparent.

WeshouldnotbuildafutureworldbasedonAdamSmith-styledgreedyindividualswhodon’tcooperatewitheachother.Weneedtopromote,encourageand,exploitthepoweroftransparency.

Willthisnewecologyfeel