I know I know. I said this was a non techie blog but hear me out; this is important because there are two technologies that are going to reshape the entire digital landscape: Web3 and AI. At this point, it's hard to predict whether they are going to work in unison, or Web3 technology will be required in order to protect users/companies from AI manipulation (deepfakes, scams, etc.). There is a lot of irony in this, considering the sheer amount of NFT scams we've gone through over the past 3 years.
I mean, at this point, there is very little innovation happening in Web3. 10k PFP projects (for all you not connected to the space at all, this is the "right-click-save JPEGS) were running rampant which took little to no effort at all. All it required was some software that just generated a bunch of different traits and some of these were going for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It completely turned off casual onlookers and there was little to no chance of mainstream adoption.
This was frustrating to watch to say the least. It was like let's say...when the App Store first launched, and remember how big Angry Birds was? It took the world by storm. It led to a spark of innovation, leading to apps that you are still using today - be it the Starbucks app for instant payments, an app to set your fantasy football lineup, or ones that connect you with someone to offer you a ride, a place to stay and a plethora of podcasts to listen to - there is little to no doubt how much the technology of apps has changed the world. That never happened (yet) in the Web3 space. Instead, all we got was everyone rushing to make Angry Bird clones. It'd be like if the App Store was instead just filled with Pissed Pigeons! Furious Penguins! Get hyped...we're dropping Mad Dolphins next week!! And you'd get people jumping to each new game saying it's so innovative and fresh when it's just the same damned thing over and over again. I mean, let's face it - 90% of today's NFTs are trash. These so called "projects" were just creating things as fast as they could, suck some liquidity out of the market, and rug pull. Yet we fell for it over and over again, so who's to blame?
That's where Flow comes in. They're the only blockchain I see continually pressing forward with innovations to the NFT technology to ensure it's adopted by the masses. They actually have strong partnerships with companies and brands we've actually heard of like MATEL, NBA, NFL, UFC, Disney through Cryptoys, etc.. And it's really not just the consumer side of things with creative digital collectables either. They're continuing to build and flesh out their programming language Cadence. Like just this week, they dropped a bomb with EVM, which basically allows developers to build on Ethereum's network effects and being able to use all of Cadence's capabilities on top of that. They have the best of so many worlds, and it has been a long time coming. And all this is coming at a perfect time where I'm sure there are a lot of developers who are brainstorming ideas to shake the space up - to start creating actual projects with NFT/Web3 technology that would make people's lives easier as we travel into the unknown with AI rapidly causing a ripple effect amongst practically everything.
Web3 can help assure two things are achieved: digital scarcity, and also being able to identify ownership of unique assets. And while other chains are struggling with clones upon clones of digital assets filled with scams and rug pulls, Flow continues to put itself well ahead of the curve. I don't have any answers to how AI is going to play a role in all of this, but one thing I do know is that Web3 is a technology that can safeguard digital authenticity. I feel that's going to be VERY important.
Excited to see where things are going.