Artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and the future of work

Friends, 

We have entered an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency supercycle. Amidst this radical movement, we are seeing a new defining narrative of the 21st century headlined by the AI revolution. For the past 22 months, Artificial Intelligence and its applications have sparked innovations, upended sectors, and raised questions about the future of work, such as Sereact is using robots to automate manual tasks in the manufacturing sector. As for Cryptocurrency, which has powered an accessible, open, and programmable global financial system used by individuals and corporations regardless of their territories or origin. Millions of individuals, today, not only have crypto wallets for various purposes but also break new, unthinkable grounds through the personal genius accessed on their phones, tablets, and laptops.

This broad excitement about the revolutionary capabilities of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency has seen industry heavyweights and regular users express their concerns about the future of work. Over the next decade, intelligent embodied systems will permeate production sites and industrial sectors - from manufacturing to supply chain, drug discovery and dispensary to online shopping and customer services. At the fundamental level, the structure and speed of cryptocurrency compress the timelines for real and impactful technological breakthroughs. Therefore, what we are thinking is how these two technologies affect our lives, including how we work, interact and transact on local and global scales. 

But with an intense investor appetite, changing demographic trends, labor cost arbitrage, and centralization by governing authorities, what does the combination of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mean for the future of work? 

The Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency on Service Delivery and Global Payments

For much of our history, people expand their physical energy to deliver tasks and services. Often, this is closely linked to the prevailing culture in a particular region or ethics and demands of the profession. The traditional concept of work is limiting and this is responsible for the pushback by some groups who fear AI could displace them from their roles. On one hand, artificial intelligence, through automation, will increase the productivity level of our workforces with fewer workers in a coordinated environment. On the other hand, it opens up new business models and redefines the existing ones. As Artificial Intelligence increases in capability, the number of possible use cases will increase, especially as employers search for simple ways to automate repetitive tasks. 

The universe of automated operations will be faced with flexible but expensive technical choices. This means employers and business owners who want to embrace AI must navigate (or learn to navigate) proprietary technical interfaces that require technical expertise and knowledge. It also involves coping with changing product requirements and regular human intervention. Even if machines prove to be the super genius doing last-mile delivery, a range of configurations by human inputs may be required in other sectors of the economy and certain new occupations are created. 

It is too early to tell but there could be two extreme possibilities of how crypto and artificial intelligence will impact global transactions and service delivery. The first is that new decentralized but automated business models will be created. This will be seamless through crypto, minimizing dependence on middlemen and empowering workers to actively participate in economic activities. The second is that decentralization will allow businesses to reach a global, broader audience and operate in environments with limited access to innovation and traditional financial services. Similarly, this allows cross-cultural integration, exchange of ideas, and healthy competition. Everybody benefits in the end.

At the core, looking and hiring outside of a region or country makes cryptocurrency a natural choice for employers and employees as reported by CNBC because of its security, transparency, and its ability for borderless payments with the ease of a text at the speed of the internet in a low-cost manner. We may have a young secondary school leaver in Nigeria or Peru helping Divorce Attorneys in the US with task automation or products being packaged by robots in China - all payments in cryptocurrencies. This cryptocurrency brings new life into people, especially in the developing economies of Africa, Asia, and South America. As I said above, the timeline of technology development has been compressed by cryptocurrency.

When it comes to automation and borderless payment for enhanced productivity and profitability, we live between artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. The painstaking restriction of talents and hard work by cultural or geographical conditions won't spill into the future of work. This sub-optimal working condition will change with emerging technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AIs, stablecoins, and Web3. 

Easy to say, right?

Not quite. 

However, a better alternative to the current infrastructure and business architecture may have emerged. Although far from perfect, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence offer an alternative vehicle that drives human collaboration and talent formation at scale. This revolutionary move hints at an inclusive and compelling future of work where employees are allowed to contribute to the direction of a project and benefit from its success. For these reasons, companies and businesses of the future will evolve naturally and self-govern, encouraging workers to commit their full selves to their organization. As artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency grow in influence and structure, a networked model is created and this enables alignment and coordination between workers and their employers in a scalable way.

Will these make more sense in three years time? What about ten?

Dicey, but we think the fundamental component of shared value creation will be consistent. With that in mind, it's time to unpack why building the tangibles is important for the future of work.

Building the Tangibles: Blockchain and the Physical World

Soon, there will be AI for different things - AI for lawyers, AI for plumbers, AI for dentists, and AI for accountants. Of course, this is a question of how value is created and for what use case. At a high level, cross-building with artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency is either socially-motivated or technically-oriented. Some build for tangible benefits while others build to compound and accumulate social capital. In both, the fundamental purpose of using emerging technologies to improve our lives is present. Technically-oriented products use AI and crypto to focus more on on-chain activities but the socially-motivated ones are more interested in the tangible outcomes - bringing a group of people together, and finding new ways for them to transact and interact across and beyond borders. There is no hard line between these classifications since they will be powered by automation and decentralization. 

Conclusion

If we were to have an opportunity to maximize AI and crypto's benefits for social and economic advantages, then we must innovate for tangible outcomes. This means focusing on the socially-motivated ones as we do for the technically-inclined products. Given the pace of innovation and advancement of both technologies, such a decision will onboard more people into crypto and using artificial intelligence for smart hiring, investment, and business decisions. There is no absolute path, yet; but we must give ourselves the flexibility to act and improve. We will see if this is enough for the future of work.

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