In AI’s Data Divide, Blockchain Finally Empowers the Have-Nots

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For far too long, we’ve all been data have-nots. Our personal information has been hoarded in silos, owned by corporations and sold to the highest bidder.

As we transition into the artificial intelligence (AI) age, this problem is not only persisting but intensifying.

LLMs (large language models) are now learning from our data without compensating or even acknowledging the rightful owners.

If data is indeed ‘the new oil,’ then we all deserve to tap into our reserves and share in its value.

Blockchain offers a solution by ensuring transparency, fair compensation and immutable traceability.

This approach effectively tackles some of AI’s most pressing challenges related to data privacy, accessibility and copyright.

By solving the data ingestion problem, blockchain protocols and platforms promise ethical evolution while ensuring we all get our fair share of the AI pie.

The state of play in AI

AI’s come a long way in a short time. But almost two years after the much-hyped debut of mainstream generative AI, there’s already a data shortage on the horizon.

Research indicates a growing mismatch between the availability of training data and the rapid advancement of computing power.

This imbalance suggests that leading language models could exhaust their supply of fresh, high-quality data as soon as 2026.

Despite an insatiable appetite, new and novel data sources are proving harder to come by, especially as critics question the information’s provenance and privacy.

Data is therefore in great demand, evolving beyond mere fuel for innovation into a new asset class poised to generate trillions of dollars in value over the coming years.

The next frontier is to harvest the unharvested and integrate workplace and personal information at scale while maintaining compliance.

Unlocking these information reserves represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity that blockchain can spearhead and in which users can – and should – share.

From data silos to shared successes

Blockchain offers a compelling solution to AI’s data dilemma.

Various protocols and platforms not only register and track information on-chain but also bring users into the data economy from the ground up.

Take Sahara AI. The startup – which raised more than $40 million in August 2024 – incentivizes the users, data sources and AI trainers crucial to the technology’s success.

Unlike other players, the company rewards rather than ignores the data contributors that power its decentralized blockchain platform.

Story Protocol is another project furthering this concept – using blockchain to allow creators to establish ownership of their work, set rules for how it can be used and ensure they get paid when their content is utilized.

We can see this ethos in action in blockchain gaming.

Modular data layers in this sector empower users to own, control and monetize their data, unlocking new possibilities for AI-powered experiences both within gaming and beyond.

This approach unifies gaming identities and allows players to selectively share their information with companies and advertisers for compensation.

In turn, their data produces smarter systems and better outcomes.

Further, beyond collecting new data, we need this larger pool of decentralized information to scale securely.

Here, too, blockchain shows promise. Aethir, for example, unlocks enterprise-grade GPUs – strategically distributed to compute closer to users – to refine complex algorithms, process vast datasets and interface in real time.

Whichever way you look at it, blockchain solves some of AI’s greatest pain points at a time when the sector needs to deliver on inflated expectations.

Our data is the key, and we deserve compensation

It’s important to solve these issues now.

Three-quarters of consumers are more concerned about data privacy than ever before, and 70% believe they should share in profits from their data.

While AI promises important strides, we risk repeating past mistakes if the sector doesn’t acknowledge and integrate the humans behind the insight.

Also remember that the potential of AI, impressive as it is today, can be vastly expanded through ethical data inclusion.

As more users control and share their data through blockchain, AI systems will gain access to high-quality, privacy-preserving datasets essential for training and optimization.

This creates a virtuous cycle where AI drives genuine value while facilitating trust, privacy and ownership.

Expect this to accelerate the development of AI agents and other new and improved integrations.

This is a nascent sector, and it’s not too late to right data wrongs.

Decentralizing from corporate control, acknowledging information sources and compensating rightful owners is a major step toward digital equality.

Not only can we then bridge the AI data divide but we can also empower individuals to become active participants rather than passive subjects of data exploitation.

By doing so, we wrest power from the data-haves and elevate the data-have-nots, creating a truly user-owned internet.

Yukai Tu is the CTO at CARV, helping build the largest decentralized identity and data layer for gaming, AI and beyond. He is an expert in confidential computing and blockchain and holds an MS in computer science from UCLA. Yukai has been a software engineer at Google and Coinbase and a blockchain engineering lead at LINO Network.

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