Remember the writing exercises we had in middle school, where we had to describe our favorite cookie? We were instructed to explain it like we were describing it to an alien who had never seen a cookie before. This meant we had to involve all the senses – sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. It might not have struck you at the time, but providing a description that paints a vivid picture is quite challenging.
Let me attempt to portray Matheus Pagani, the founder and CEO of Venture Miner. Matheus is a man with a light caramel complexion and dark brown hair. Although his hair is closely cropped, the curls are evident. His dark brown, almost black beard is thick and connects to a mustache. Behind his thin wire-rimmed glasses, his eyes are dark brown. His bottom lip protrudes slightly more than his top lip, a trait that lends him a confident but not conceited appearance.
Can you visualize him? How accurate do you think you are?
By the way, he’s from Brazil.
Do you have a clear picture now?
Let’s have a look at what Matheus Pagani really looks like.
Now, did your mental image match the actual picture? Probably not. When you knew he was Brazilian, did you imagine him wearing vibrant colors and a feathered headdress?
If yes, you may want to reassess your bias, but you’re also thinking like AI would. This is what ChatGPT came up with when given the prompt “Brazilians having fun.” Pagani demonstrated this and other examples generated by AI during the AI2Web3 Bootcamp in New York City in early December.
The bootcamp, organized by Pagani and Build City, gathered 59 participants with varying skill levels to learn how AI and blockchain technology can be combined to develop useful products and services. Pagani used a variation of the middle-school exercise to elucidate how AI has made significant strides that have kept us intrigued and apprehensive over the recent years.
The bootcamp was about understanding and getting hands-on experience with both AI and blockchain technology. According to Pagani, these skills will soon be relevant to everyone, including engineers, tech users, journalists, artists, and doctors.
He stated, “We want to join brilliant minds from all backgrounds to work with AI and Web3, as the junction of their multiple perspectives can uncover new use cases that we would never envision with just a specialized Web3 or AI mindset alone.”
One of the most thrilling aspects of the intersection of these two technologies is the potential for rapid development, even without considerable prior technical experience. AI can generate entire codebases with the right prompt, and the crypto industry is building tools to make development at the intersection of both more intuitive and accessible.
For example, Coinbase, a bootcamp sponsor, launched AgentKit in November. This framework allows developers to create AI agents with their own crypto wallets, enabling the agents to interact autonomously with blockchain networks.
The bootcamp concluded with nine teams presenting working prototypes for projects that blended Web3 and AI. These projects ranged from AI assistants designed to help pick gifts, order delivery, or diversify financial portfolios to applications aimed at helping crypto operators generate memecoins with high virality potential.
Participants across all skill levels expressed their enthusiasm for the learnings and inspiration they gained from the bootcamp. Whether newcomers to the field or seasoned professionals, everyone was able to learn and create projects that leveraged the intersection of AI and blockchain technology, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize various aspects of our world.
