Blockchain and the future of the intelligent revolution

Blockchain concept

In essence, blockchain is a distributed ledger that is a multi-center bookkeeping method. Accounting is an act of recording information about economic activity. In human social activities, bookkeeping is a key power. Most of the previous bookkeeping behaviors have been characterized by centralization. Unlike the traditional centralized accounting function, this function of the blockchain is based on cryptography. Through two-way encryption activities, the blockchain can keep the accounting function on different subjects, and it can guarantee certain anonymity and security for all parties to the transaction.

The emergence of blockchain technology provides an important technical basis for governance activities. In the past three decades, the concept of governance has become the core concept of social science. Governance emphasizes the connotation of multi-center, transparency, trust, justice, etc., and the blockchain is very close to the conditions for realizing these connotations.

First, the blockchain has a multi-centered feature that changes the previous single, centralized accounting method. This new method of billing allows each subject to participate in the billing activity, and each subject has an independent ledger in hand. It should be pointed out that although in the process of blockchain communication, many scholars emphasize the decentralization of the blockchain, it is not actually a decentralized, but multi-center. The blockchain still has a center, but such a center is no longer a single center, but a multi-center.

Second, the blockchain is traceable. Since each participant has a ledger and all trading activities are recorded on multiple books, all trading activities can be confirmed by comparison between the ledger and the ledger. Traceable features can increase the transparency of trading activity.

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Third, blockchain can increase trust. As the credibility and accuracy of billing activities increase, people's trading behavior will be recorded more accurately, which will further increase trust between people. And this trust is not simply based on social trust between people, but an algorithm-based digital trust. There is some literature that emphasizes the de-trusting of blockchains when discussing blockchain characteristics. In fact, blockchain does not remove trust, but increases trust between people, but this trust is guaranteed and passed through numbers and algorithms. The important role of blockchain in the intelligent revolution The primary technical basis of the intelligent revolution is artificial intelligence. What artificial intelligence achieves is the intelligence of things. In short, what we saw before is often static or mechanical. Through the technology of artificial intelligence, static objects can move, and information can be transmitted and processed to realize automatic interaction between objects.

Artificial intelligence is a further development of the Internet and Internet of Things technologies. The Internet first realizes the connection of terminals such as computers, and the mobile Internet realizes the connection between mobile phones. The Internet of Things further expands the main body and scope of the connection, enabling interconnection and automatic communication between all things, thus generating new productivity. Artificial intelligence is the life or humanization of objects. Its essence is to imitate the behavior of animals or people and to think about it.

Artificial intelligence faces two challenges in the next stage of development. The first is the issue of security. With the emergence of a large number of agents, the problem that human society is worried about is that if hackers attack terrorist networks by attacking artificial intelligence systems, the harm will be enormous. For example, in future intelligent transportation systems, hackers can create a car accident on the road by manipulating or interfering with the driverless system. Such losses will be enormous. Similarly, hacking attacks on critical infrastructure or medical smart devices are equally heartbreaking.

Traceability of blockchains can help solve such problems. The future trend is to achieve a full record of all network activities through blockchain technology. The previous Internet traceability is still central, and the traceability of future blockchain technology support can prove the authenticity of Internet activities through a multi-center approach. At the same time, this two-way recording method is actually an open monitoring mechanism. By recording all network activities, the identity of the hacker can be more accurately determined, and then the hacker's attack behavior is severely punished and deterred.

Similarly, privacy protection is also a major problem facing the development of artificial intelligence. Due to the emergence of a large number of agents, personal privacy can easily flow into the public space, and some criminals will buy and sell personal privacy as a property. Through encryption technology and cryptography, blockchain can achieve the retention of raw data and controllable data sharing.

Data users can be given certain permissions through encryption. Depending on the business needs and the different scenarios and content, the user will get different access keys, and the user will also leave a timestamp during use. Then such data usage will be easier to trace, and basic data protection is easier to implement.

Further development of artificial intelligence in the future will lead to more complex multiple social relationships, including the interaction between agents and humans, and between agents. The social relationship in traditional human society is mainly the relationship between people and people. Under certain circumstances, the relationship between humans and animals, between humans and nature, is involved. But with the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, social relations will produce new changes.

For example, if there are several or even dozens of agents in a family, then if the interaction between these agents and people still needs people to deal with, then ultimately humans will be overwhelmed. The original intention of the agent is to help humans solve the problem, but if the new complex and complex relationship generated by the agent needs to be solved by manpower, the agent will become a burden.

In this sense, smart contracts become crucial. Smart contracts are transactions that are automatically reached between agents through some algorithm and in accordance with some principles and guidelines of human society. There are two key points: one is to automatically conclude transactions between agents, and the other is that agents need to imitate some common cultural principles of human society. If the development of smart contracts violates basic human values, then this must be dangerous. Therefore, the design of smart contracts must conform to the basic human values ​​and common codes of conduct. In this sense, blockchain and artificial intelligence are precisely the AB side of intelligent revolutionary technology. In English, the first letters of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain (Blockchain) are also A and B.

China's response in the future China needs to conduct more in-depth research on the underlying technology. At present, the core applications of the blockchain are mostly driven by the West. For example, Bitcoin, Ethereum's Ethereum, and IBM's Hyperledger Project. These projects are very important in the blockchain, but the underlying architecture is basically driven by Western companies or associations. Most of the domestic blockchain companies are doing some application articles on the underlying architecture of the West. In other words, the core systems of these critical infrastructures remain in the hands of the West. In the context of current Sino-US trade frictions, key technologies are crucial. If the blockchain is crucial to the future development of China's smart economy, then the localization of such underlying technology is crucial. Therefore, China needs to make further layout on the underlying technology.

China can promote the landing of some specific applications. For example, some local governments can be encouraged to conduct pilot projects on national digital currencies, and companies can be encouraged to do some digital currency pilots. Recently, Facebook also released a new digital currency, Libra. It can be seen that the United States has adopted a pilot approach in the process of responding to the blockchain. In the process of reform and opening up, the pilot approach is of great significance to China's promotion of reforms. Important changes in many places are promoted through pilots. Since the blockchain is critical to the future of the intellectual revolution, it is important to establish a regional pilot mechanism for the blockchain.

In the process of the pilot, China can gradually form its own technical standards and social standards. In the new intelligent revolution in the future, competition with technological applications in Western leading countries will occur frequently. In the current process of intelligent revolution, we have shown certain advantages, so in the future competition, competition for standards will become an important content. Because standards mean institutional discourse, it also means future competition paths and directions.

Author | Gao Qiqi

Source | Learning Times

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