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Ari Juels: Can AI Weaponize Blockchain Smart Contracts? - Chainlink

Nov 19, 2024

Ari Juels, a Cornell professor and chief scientist at Chainlink, dives into the potential perils when AI meets blockchain. He warns about rogue smart contracts that could be weaponized for criminal purposes and discusses their convoluted relationship with large language models. Juels also tackles the evolving landscape of decentralized organizations, ethical considerations in governance, and the importance of transparency to prevent malicious activities. Plus, he elaborates on innovative metrics like 'voting block entropy' that could reshape DAO performance assessments.

01:04:05

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Ari Juels

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The intersection of AI and blockchain raises concerns about rogue smart contracts being weaponized for criminal activities, necessitating caution and regulation.

Oracle systems are crucial for integrating AI capabilities into smart contracts, allowing them to access off-chain data and enhance their functionality.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) require innovative metrics like voting block entropy to more accurately measure true decentralization beyond traditional token distribution.

Deep dives

Understanding Rogue Smart Contracts

Rogue smart contracts are defined as contracts created to advertise or solicit criminal services. These contracts can manifest in various forms, such as pyramid schemes or more dangerous real-world crimes. An example provided is the hypothetical creation of a contract aimed at stealing the Koh-i diamond, which requires the criminal to submit a unique calling card description known only to them. The contract then verifies the completion of the crime by correlating news reports with the description, showcasing the intersection of AI and blockchain technology.

Intro

2min

Exploring MEV and Staking Innovations in Blockchain

2min

Rogue Smart Contracts: A Criminal Narrative

6min

AI Meets Blockchain: Smart Contracts Revolution

12min

Exploring DAOs and Voting Dynamics

12min

Bribery and Governance in DeFi

16min

Navigating MEV and Blockchain Governance

14min

A smart contract’s rigid rule system represents a double-edged sword. ‘The Code is Law’, but what happens when rogue large language models or AI agents bend the Law? Can smart contracts be weaponised to serve a criminal agenda? In his ‘Oracle’ novel, Ari Juels explores this thesis and issues an eery warning regarding the blockchain x AI intersection. In this imminent future, oracles play a crucial role, allowing LLMs to push data on-chain or smart contracts to pull off-chain data.

Topics covered in this episode:

Criminal Smart Contracts
Oracle x LLM convergence
Preventing malicious intents through oracle systems
AI x crypto use cases
DAOs
Entropy in voting behaviours
Dark DAOs
TEEs & private smart contracts
MEV & proofs of transaction ordering
Future blockchain research

Episode links:

Sponsors:

Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
Chorus1: Chorus1 is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain.

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