According to a September 2016 Accenture report, artificial intelligence (AI) will “double the annual economic growth rate in 12 developed economies and boost labor productivity by up to 40 percent by 2035.” An IDC report notes, “By 2018, 75% of developer teams will include cognitive / AI functionality in one or more applications.”
It’s no wonder companies of all sizes–from Microsoft and Google down to blockchain powered startups–are working on AI products, systems, and implementation.
Unfortunately, AI technology has yet to hit that sweet spot where it is affordable and easy to use, but also innovative and efficient. One company, SingularityNET, is developing a blockchain powered platform that serves as a decentralized, open market for AI service and products. The protocol is designed to facilitate AI discovery and allow anyone to find the AI services or products they need, purchase them, and then implement them with ease.
SingularityNET is also utilizing AI wrapping, thereby providing a simple protocol for AI systems to exchange data and coordinate processes. This will allow AI systems to communicate with each other, eliminating the need to perform menial tasks manually. The SingularityNET platform will be used by companies to help streamline procedures and vastly improve operational efficiency.
After a successful crowdsale, SingularityNET is now in process of creating their platform. In order to help improve the development efforts, they recently announced a partnership with Nexus and now they have partnered with another blockchain startup in the platform creation phase, FundRequest.
FundRequest is a decentralized marketplace built for open source collaboration. Businesses and developers upload their requests to the marketplace and attach a monetary incentive. The FundRequest community has the opportunity to solve the request in exchange for the funds attached to it. The platform provides a simple but safe way to reward bug fixes and build features on any project.
A Mutually Beneficial Partnership
SingularityNET is planning to use FundRequest to offer bug bounties and compensate developers for contributions. This partnership will allow the core SingularityNET development team to focus on the overall structure, while FundRequest’s platform will be used to source developers who can tackle miscellaneous bugs and issues that come up along the way. It is much more economically efficient than hiring another department to focus on one-off problems.
What’s more, because SingularityNET is already entirely based on open source, integrating the solutions proposed via Fundquest will be very easy. The wealth of knowledge available through the decentralized marketplace can be harnessed by SingularityNET’s own team creating a highly skilled and knowledgeable AI community.
In turn, FundRequest will begin using SingularityNET’s marketplace to develop AI applications within its own platform. The two teams will partner together to collaborate on specific AI tools related to the FundRequest network. So far, ideas include:
- Bounty Discovery – Independent developers can use an AI search to find jobs that best fit their expertise and demands
- Monitoring the Reputation System – FundRequest will deploy a reputation system that scores each participant based upon work history and reliability. AI implementation will enable algorithms to police the system for any errors or miscalculations.
- Help-Bots – AI technology will allow FundRequest to create help-bots who will manage the onboarding process and deal with customer service requests.
- Disputes and Conflicts – AI-powered workflows can help manage dispute flows when there are conflicts between funders and solvers.
Though the companies have different applications–SingularityNET for AI technology and FundRequest for crowdsourcing/funding software development–they both run decentralized marketplaces. Thus while the companies have dissimilar focuses, they can each learn from each other on what works and what doesn’t work in terms of marketplace discovery and operations. The partnership also opens up the possibility of networking across industries, a prospect that was previously untenable prior to the partnership.
The joining of efforts by two promising blockchain startups is an exciting prospect for both blockchain technology and AI research. By using each other’s strengths, the SingularityNet/FundRequest partnership will allow AI contributors and companies to make the most of the incredibly powerful technology.
