The AI industry will usher in a new round of explosive growth after entering 2025, and the global AI competition led by China and the United States will become more intense. It is foreseeable that hot money will continue to flow in, giving rise to a large number of startups and projects, and will also lead to a surge in failure cases. The industry needs to think calmly at this time: avoid over-reliance on centralized AI technology. Decentralized AI combined with blockchain and cryptocurrency can provide new ideas and solutions for the industry.
The AI watershed: The race for global influence in the digital age
AI competition is not only an enterprise-level activity, but also a part of national strategy.
The United States has recognized the strategic importance of AI and has imposed strict export controls on advanced technologies against countries such as China. This has forced China to increase its domestic innovation efforts, for example, state-backed investment is pouring into companies such as Huawei to develop domestic solutions to replace Nvidia's AI chips.
It is expected that China will increase its AI R&D efforts in 2025, as will the United States. Private and public capital will enter the AI industry significantly, and corporate R&D will surge. AI will also play a core role in key areas such as EV, defense technology, biotechnology, and aerospace.
The fierce competition will drive continuous iteration of technological achievements and also create another round of bubbles.
Is the Internet bubble reappearing?
Signs similar to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s are already emerging. The influx of capital and overly ambitious promises will inevitably lead to failure. As new AI startups emerge and large companies anxiously enter the market, we are likely to see a wave of hastily designed projects that fail to deliver on their promises.
The failure of AI in 2025 will stem from a lack of focus on real-world applications and long-term value creation. Startups will blindly pursue the next big invention and may fall into a mentality of hype rather than industry. A large number of applications and platforms will emerge, but these applications will either be redundant or lack credibility.
This trust crisis is particularly worrying in 2C AI products. For example, the development of AI personal assistant robots for home use seems promising, but ordinary consumers are unlikely to adopt them without guarantees about safety, privacy, and ethical protections.
Military Impact and Significance of AI
The application of AI in the military sector brings far-reaching impacts and complex challenges. The emergence of autonomous weapons, AI intelligence analysis, surveillance systems, and battlefield decision-making tools has revolutionized modern military power. However, these technologies also raise significant ethical, operational, and existential questions.
The industry itself has a responsibility to pay attention to and address the broader impacts of AI in sensitive areas such as military applications, healthcare, and public policy, for example, by embedding ethical considerations into the basic framework of AI development to mitigate the risks associated with the rapid development of technology.
Blockchain and the decentralized solution
One of the most pressing challenges in the field of AI is the "black box" dilemma, which is the opacity and difficulty of auditing AI decisions. The blockchain's immutable and transparent ledger provides a powerful solution to this problem, which can record every stage of the AI life cycle, from data collection, training to deployment decisions, ensuring the auditability and credibility of the system.
By integrating blockchain into AI development, we can ensure transparency, enforce ethical guidelines, prevent monopoly control, and align the AI industry with the principles of trust, decentralization, and human interest. We call this effort "decentralized AI."
A call for the future
2025 will be a pivotal year for AI and decentralized AI, one that will bring breakthroughs, record investments, and plenty of failures. But if the industry can view these challenges as opportunities to recalibrate, AI could emerge more powerful, more focused, and more aligned with human needs.
From investors, technology developers, regulators to consumers, everyone can think about the role AI should play in our lives: not only what kind of technology humans can develop, but also why we develop these technologies and how to develop technology responsibly.
Author: Dr. Max Li, Founder of OORT and Professor at Columbia University
Originally published in Forbes:
